Why are interracial children so attractive?

Why are all children so attractive? The perfect skin, the dimples on the elbows, the smell after a bath, the new little teeth?

I think that a good genetic shake up seems to produce beautiful offspring. My Niece and nephew are gorgeous and brilliant. less inbreeding I guess ~

I think it’s because they’re heterozygous at more loci. :)

“Attractive” is a rather difficult quality to pin down. I will assume you are talking about physical appearance. As a general rule, the more perfectly average a person looks, the more beautiful they are- that is, the less they tend to the extremes. If you take a series of photos of different people of the same gender and average them digitally, you will end up with a person far more stunning than the sum of its parts. Mixing “races” accomplishes the same end, more effectively than two similar-looking parents breeding (as the averaging effect is slight in that case and does not outweigh the standard deviation of appearance from parent to offspring).

Or the same thing @Judi said, only more nerdy…

And all little kids have the cutest noses.

Because you think they are?

Eye of the beholder and all.

There are attractive children of every race (or combination of races).

You must be looking at two of my grandsons. Yes, they are cute, aren’t they.

Could this be in the eye of the beholder? So many little children, in all the races as well as mixes that we produce, seem to be adorable. I think this serves an important evolutionary function.

… I’ve heard that a lot, I guess is true… why? i have no idea

to attract more interracial coupling! :)

Maybe because psychologically they just present a different look?

I live in Toronto which is known for being extensively diverse and inclusive – I don’t find interracial children more or less attractive than children of a clear ethnicity…

@shockvalue I totally agree with you. My nephews are half-Indian, half-Scottish, and I’ll be the first to admit they’re gorgeous. I think interracial children, for whatever reason, take the best features of their parents’ races, and the blending of skin colors creates a beautiful tan. I’m in an interracial relationship myself, so clearly I’m partial…

babies are ugly

They aren’t, necessarily. I’ve seen some ugly mixed kids in my life. I’m mixed-race as well, and I was an average-looking kid and am an average-looking adult.

I completely agree with you, @shockvalue—and I think that if you did a scientific study of babies you’d find that the multi-racial ones would rate as more attractive as a population.

Other pseudo-scientific analysis reveals that many, many models are mutltiracial and a growing number of celebrities are multiracial—so there may be a cultural conditioning that defines a multi-racial look as “beautiful”. That is, we think multi-racial people are beautiful because culturally it’s “in” right now.

Personally, though, I think that @fireinthepriory has it right—that you’re more likely to hit on more “beautiful” combinations when you have more genetic diversity.

@andrew – I agree with you but think it goes beyond what’s culturally “in.” Considering that 60 years ago interracial marriage was illegal in some states and is still looked down upon in certain areas (by people I wish would be weeded out already), interracial children represent the love of people who have moved beyond the bigotry of the past. It’s the ultimate symbol of racial harmony, or to use a controversial term, “post-race.”

They just are (most, at least).

Hybrid vigor!

I admit to being biased. My children are biracial and I think they are drop-dead gorgeous. My daughter thinks her butt is too big (no, it isn’t!) and my son wants straight hair (Why? His hair is fun), but otherwise they are beautiful.

But then, just about every child under about the age of five is cute, adorable or gorgeous.

Best of both worlds, Tiger, Shakira and Beyonce.

I think the answer stems from a mix of genes that are more widely separated in terms of our evolutionary tree..this not only ensure more attractiveness but also more resistance to more diseases

@Zen. Best of Both Worlds. It’s always about TNG with you.

@AstroChuck You make me smile.