Posted: Sun 10 Aug 2008 20:49 Post subject: White Cockroaches are Beautiful
I was watching the science channel's show Super Animal and this episode focused on the Cockroach, it was a creepy show, but I watched all of it. The funny thing was that towards the end of the program they show a white cockroach and the guy starts talking about how beautiful this white cockroach is, and I am saying to myself what???
This is not the first time I have heard people refer to white colored animals as beautiful and the darker counterparts as scary or disgusting. I have a coworker that had a white rat as a pet named Clara, she had pictures of the thing in her cubicle. It is possible that I am looking too much into this, but I believe there is something behind this type of thinking.
(Not my coworker)
I remember watching a comedian who is known for pushing peoples racial buttons. Despite not agreeing with most of his viewpoints something about this joke really stuck out for me. He said if a Caucasian baby was on the stage while he was performing and he put white wings on the baby that the audience would respond "Oh look at the angel" but if it was a a real dark complexioned African American baby and he put dark wings on the baby the audience would repond "Ooh look at the bat".
Joined: 07 Oct 2007 {Posts: 203 } Location: United States
Posted: Mon 11 Aug 2008 06:04 Post subject:
I think it has much to do with a: the way our eyes respond to light colors versus dark colors, and b: constructs based on these differences. Honestly I think we naturally see "white" and "black" differently...
I think it has much to do with a: the way our eyes respond to light colors versus dark colors, and b: constructs based on these differences. Honestly I think we naturally see "white" and "black" differently...
So would you not be opposed to having cockroaches and rats in your home if they were white???
I do agree that there could be some validity to our eyes response to light colors over dark, but it concerns me as it applies to animals. If you would never think of having a rat as a pet, but because the coat is white, you are now more open to the idea, just sounds to bizarre to me.
Something else that I don't understand is the "Black Dog Syndrome" where people don't want to adopt black coated dogs because they see them as "Evil" or "Demonic". I don't go to pet stores often(due to allergies) but when I do, my interest in a dog has little to do with it's coat and more to do with signs of having a good personality and intelligence.
Joined: 07 Oct 2007 {Posts: 203 } Location: United States
Posted: Tue 12 Aug 2008 07:41 Post subject:
onlyhuman77 wrote:
Grasshoppa wrote:
I think it has much to do with a: the way our eyes respond to light colors versus dark colors, and b: constructs based on these differences. Honestly I think we naturally see "white" and "black" differently...
So would you not be opposed to having cockroaches and rats in your home if they were white???
I do agree that there could be some validity to our eyes response to light colors over dark, but it concerns me as it applies to animals. If you would never think of having a rat as a pet, but because the coat is white, you are now more open to the idea, just sounds to bizarre to me.
Something else that I don't understand is the "Black Dog Syndrome" where people don't want to adopt black coated dogs because they see them as "Evil" or "Demonic". I don't go to pet stores often(due to allergies) but when I do, my interest in a dog has little to do with it's coat and more to do with signs of having a good personality and intelligence.
LOL...Well, such a strong feeling such as love or hate of a living thing based on color IS a bit bizarre. But it is not so bizarre that color has an influence at all. Whether most people amit it or not, physical features have at least some influence on our initial attraction to things, living or not.
Not wanting a black dog because it looks "evil" or "demonic" based merely on it's color is laughable, and I believe such thoughts are learned and not exactly a direct effect of the eye's reactions to colors.
Posted: Tue 12 Aug 2008 21:02 Post subject: Re: White Cockroaches are Beautiful
onlyhuman77 wrote:
I was watching the science channel's show Super Animal and this episode focused on the Cockroach, it was a creepy show, but I watched all of it. The funny thing was that towards the end of the program they show a white cockroach and the guy starts talking about how beautiful this white cockroach is, and I am saying to myself what???
OK, that is just DISGUSTING! I hate all cockroaches, the little ones, the big ones, the flying ones, and now the white ones. This bug looks even creepier than your typical brown DISGUSTING cockroach. YUCK!
As for your observation, I think there's some validity to it. Throughout time, for whatever reason, white has been depicted as pure and beautiful and black has been depicted as evil or bad. I've heard people talk about how in the old Western movies the good guys would wear white and the bad guys would wear black. Perhaps it comes down to a "light and darkness" or "day and night" perception, meaning there's more safety and therefore goodness where there is light but dark is scary and evil. The fact that people transpose these types of notions onto animals, clothing, people, etc. is kind of, well, it's ridiculous.
Here's another example using animals, birds to be more specific. If I say "symbol of peace", we would probably all think of a white dove. In fact, I found the following picture by simply googling the word peace. I didn't put anything in about white or dove or bird.
White doves are also released, sometimes, at weddings.
If I say "harbinger of doom" or "carries off the souls of the dead", then the blackest, so black it's shiny, bird comes to mind - the raven or crow.
Try releasing a cage full of ravens at your wedding. People would probably swear you worship the devil!
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