It's said that if monkeys hack long enough on a typewriter, than they will inexorably end up writing something that makes sense.
Let's see if this is also true for scientists...



Sunday, 2 June 2013

What's the colour of love?

What is the colour, the age, the style of 'romantic relationship' in the 21st century? Let's ask google.
According to google.com (Images), romance in the 21st century is overwhelmingly visualized and thus defined as the close tête-à-tête between a young white male with short straight hair, and a young white woman. Google is global, and, therefore, this image is seen worldwide, even in the most remote places. Interestingly enough, even searches in the more country-specific sites such as google.co.uk, or google.co.za or google.co.jp, display more or less the same set of images. There are overwhelmingly those of a happy young Caucasian couple in Western summer clothes embodying the epitome of romantic relationship. Why not a happy Mayan couple? Or a loving elderly Caucasian couple?
Just like the image of Santa Claus - an old white man in Coca Cola red all over the world - and just as we listen to pretty much the same tunes in bars in Bogotá, Bali or Boston, romantic relationships are, indeed, getting more and more globally normative. And they are rarely black or Asian, never Inuit.
How does it feel for all those whose images, and consequently existences, are not evidenced by Google? Shouldn't the representation of love reflect all facets, and shades, of the human race?
(copied from this webpage. See that link for more thoughts on this topic)

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