愛到最高點，心中無國界

Although people of different ethnicities have been mixing for centuries, the subject of interracial relationships is still controversial. Even now, mixed couples face many obstacles, including laws restricting interracial marriage.

It was only in 1967 that the United States finally struck down its anti miscegenation laws. Opposition to interracial relationships exists for different reasons, but what it usually boils down to is racism.

As the world is becoming smaller, the number of interracial couples is growing, especially in countries with large numbers of immigrants. For interracial couples, love knows no color. Cultural differences are just another area of the relationship to work through.

But as interracial dating becomes more common, it does not treat all ethnic groups equally. In the United States, the vast majority of white/black couples involve a black man and a white woman. Conversely, the same number of Asian/white couples consists of an Asian woman with a white man. The proposed reason for this is that traditionally, women prefer men who are stronger and seem more masculine than they are. For men, the opposite is true.

Consequently, this leaves some groups out in the cold. But in the future, a greater mixing of ethnicities and erosion4 of gender stereotypes may balance out these dating patterns as people gain a more genuine appreciation of one another's differences.

1. strike (sth.) down phr.v. 擊倒

2. conversely adv. 相反地

3. erosion n. 腐蝕

盡管不同種族的人們已經通婚好幾個世紀了，然而不同種族之間的關系仍然是一個引起爭議的話題。即使是現在，異族男女之間的婚姻仍然面臨著重重阻礙，包括限制異族通婚的法律。

直到1967年，美國才廢除了反種族通婚的法律。反對異族聯姻有不同的理由，但通常可以歸結為種族歧視的原因。

世界變得愈小，異族婚姻的數量隨之增多，尤其是移民眾多的國家。對于異族婚配的伴侶而言，愛是沒有膚色之分的。文化差異不過是這種關系所要解決的另一方面的問題。

然而，盡管不同種族男女之間的約會變得越來越普遍，不同種族群之間的約會機會卻并不均等。在美國，絕大多數的黑／白不同膚色的配偶都是黑人男子和白人女子。相反地，同樣數量的亞裔∕白人夫婦則是由亞裔女子和白人男子組成。出現這種現象的原因是因為傳統上女人偏愛比自己強壯且外表比較陽剛的男人。而男人的喜好則相反。

這樣一來，某些種族群便遭到了冷落。但在將來，隨著人們更能真正欣賞彼此間的差異，更大規模的種族通婚和對社會性別的固定成見的消除或許能使以上的約會模式變得平衡。