When I read Satoshi Kanazawa latest Psychology Today piece, I was pissed and insulted. It wasn't until I read Editor in Chief Kaja Perina's apology, though, that my eyes filled with tears and I felt incredibly sad.
I have sympathy for Psychology Today regarding this recent controversy. After all, I have been contributing here for almost two years and understand Psychology Today's blogging process. I know that Psychology Today didn't support Kanazawa's piece.
That said, Psychology Today supports Satoshi Kanazawa. Time and again, he has written inflammatory piece after inflammatory piece that have remained on this site. It seems like his purpose is to incite people, create controversy, and in the process, get as many page views as possible.
Psychology Today is "here to help." It appears Satoshi is not.
On a regular website, this would be frustrating yet understandable. On Psychology Today - a reputable site developed from a reputable publication - it is disgusting and inexcusable.
Satoshi Kanazawa's latest piece particularly upset me because he was insulting black women across the planet, and it struck at the lies which I have dedicated so much time and energy trying to combat.
The common conclusion is that black females tend to have higher opinions of themselves than women of other races, but that wasn't my reality. I grew up primarily around non-black peers, so white folks were who I looked to as a standard of beauty.
Sure, I was okay on a black spectrum, but I wanted to excel on a "real" (i.e. white) playing field. Had I been stunningly gorgeous with more European features, maybe I'd make the cut, but not as I was - with skin so dark, lips so big, hair so nappy. Since I couldn't change the other physical characteristics, I decided I would be as cute as possible by starving, purging, overexercising, and conforming my body into what I saw as the ideal.
Had I read Kanazawa's piece when I was in the depths of my eating disorder, I would have felt devastated and figured this psychologist had reaffirmed what I already knew - that black women weren't as pretty as we thought we were. Truth is, his latest piece is nothing more than crap psychology using questionable data to validate his warped premise.
I understand that Satoshi Kanazawa brings exposure and publicity for Psychology Today, but his writing does more harm than good. In his zeal to offend as many people as possible, he does a disservice to the field of psychology and brings unfortunate, but understandable, scorn to Psychology Today.
I appreciate that Psychology Today has "taken measures to ensure that such an incident does not occur again." As I said in the beginning, I
know that Psychology Today did not sanction Kanazawa's specific piece, and I wish they weren't receiving such judgment for it. On the other hand, I don't think allowing Kanazawa to remain here is a
wise decision.
I hope Kaja and the other editors - all of whom I respect - end Satoshi Kanazawa's contribution to Psychology Today and delete his pieces from this site. Otherwise, the misconception of tolerated racism will continue to remain here.
