Christian Mingle

We have all seen the commercial on TV that asks us if we are Christian and then asks if we are single.  For me these two things really perked my interest saying what the heck could they possibility be advertising for.   Turns out it’s a dating website exclusive towards Christians.  The commercial oozes with what we see today as stereotypical “whiteness”

            We all know that anyone of any race can be whatever religion it is that they choose.  Notably the Christian faith is one of the most encompassing religions on our earth.  In the United states Christianity has a large following of minorities including blacks as well as Asians.  But despite this the commercial shows no people of color.  All the couples seen are white, out of the five couples shown, not one was interracial or would even give one the hint that they are non-Arian.  This suggests that they are trying to appeal to a white audience by providing stereotypical examples of white couples.  They all have brown or blonde hair and were fair in complexion.  None of the models even had darker skin.  Further the commercial showed a sample screen shot of potential matches the site would give; there were approximately 30 individuals shown. None of them were non-Caucasian based on my interpretation, which is probably that of the average viewer on television. 

            The lack of non-white influence in the commercial could be an interpretation of the us vs. them attitude in the racial world.  By excluding other races they instantly make the other races the “them”. And by only including the whites in the commercial they are the “us”. But interesting by establishing these politics they exclude a potentially large portion of their market.  But at the same time they may want to create a spot where only whites would be able to mingle amongst themselves in a very old fashioned “us” manner.  This would create a “racial homogenous” structure in which to date. 

            One scene from the commercial depicted a young female being twirled around on the shoulders of a man on a beach.  The female was wearing a skirt and a spaghetti strapped shirt, which indeed as Devor would say, “made her seem attractive to males”, which in turn would make her the stereotypical female.  The male also facial hair, which does make an individual seem more masculine, he was also broad in the shoulders, which made his physical appearance seem large and in turn masculine.  The beach is often regarded as a stereotypical vacation spot for white families to go.  This was brought to my attention while I was viewing a standup routine by the black Chris Rock.  He also noted that more blacks are showing up the beach because they recently discovered that it was free.