--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Yet the lure of the ideal is also, often…" description: "\"“Yet the lure of the ideal is also, often imperceptibly, haunted by misgiving, even anxiety. Not only is whiteness as absence impossible, it is not who..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f2/richard-dyer-27411_quote_yet-the-lure-of-the-ideal-is-also-often_1982381.jpg" --- # Yet the lure of the ideal is also, often imperceptibly… ![“Yet the lure of the ideal is also, often imperceptibly, haunted by misgiving, even anxiety. Not only is whiteness as absence impossible, it is not wholly desirable. To relinquish dirt and stains, corporeality and thingness, is also to relinquish both the pleasures of the flesh and the reproduction…” quote by Richard Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f2/richard-dyer-27411_quote_yet-the-lure-of-the-ideal-is-also-often_1982381.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f2/richard-dyer-27411_quote_yet-the-lure-of-the-ideal-is-also-often_1982381.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f2/richard-dyer-27411_quote_yet-the-lure-of-the-ideal-is-also-often_1982381.jpg) > ““Yet the lure of the ideal is also, often imperceptibly, haunted by misgiving, even anxiety. Not only is whiteness as absence impossible, it is not wholly desirable. To relinquish dirt and stains, corporeality and thingness, is also to relinquish both the pleasures of the flesh and the reproduction upon which whiteness as racial power depends. To be nothing is to be dead, something”” [Richard Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dyer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The ideal of pure whiteness is impossible and undesirable; abandoning it means losing both material pleasures and the power structures it sustains. **In simple terms:** Pure whiteness is unattainable and harmful. Key Takeaway Question the pursuit of racial purity. Themes race identity power anxiety Mood critical thought‑provoking Type theoretical philosophical When to use this quote - political discourse - personal identity work - media representation Key Concepts purity materialism existentialism Questions to Reflect On - What does “whiteness” truly entail? - How can we value embodied humanity? A Different Perspective The concept may oversimplify complex racial dynamics. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) [Whiteness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whiteness/) ## Related quotes > [What the left ends up missing is that politics have always been at the heart of American culture; it's been a white identity that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/what-the-left-ends-up-missing-is-that-politics-have-always-been-at/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [Hardly any aspect of my life, from where I had lived to my education to my employment history to my friendships, had been free…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/hardly-any-aspect-of-my-life-from-where-i-had-lived-to-my-education/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [“The Virgin Mary is the supreme exemplar of this feminine whiteness. Her fair hair 20 and complexion, often white robes and association with lilies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dyer/the-virgin-mary-is-the-supreme-exemplar-of-this-feminine-whiteness/) [Richard Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dyer/) > [“The ideal of whiteness makes a strong appeal. It flatters white people by associating them with (what they define as) the best in human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dyer/the-ideal-of-whiteness-makes-a-strong-appeal-it-flatters-white-people/) [Richard Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dyer/) > [“Death may in some traditions be a vivid experience, but within much of the white tradition it is a blank that may be immateriality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dyer/death-may-in-some-traditions-be-a-vivid-experience-but-within-much-of/) [Richard Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dyer/) > [“The history of representations of Cleopatra provides one of the clearest instances of the conviction that whiteness is the pinnacle of human beauty. Cleopatra…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dyer/the-history-of-representations-of-cleopatra-provides-one-of-the/) [Richard Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dyer/) > [“You speak as if God was white and Southern! As if we somehow owned his image. You speak like a fool. The Negro is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/you-speak-as-if-god-was-white-and-southern-as-if-we-somehow-owned-his/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“Whiteness is an advantage and privilege because you have made it so, not because the universe demands it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/whiteness-is-an-advantage-and-privilege-because-you-have-made-it-so/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [I'm just challenging white supremacy at its intellectual heart every day. It's a pedagogy that I deploy against some of the most vicious resistance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/i-m-just-challenging-white-supremacy-at-its-intellectual-heart-every/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [You & I, Love, together we ratify the silence, while the sea destroys its perpetual statues, collapses its towers of wild speed and whiteness:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/you-i-love-together-we-ratify-the-silence-while-the-sea-destroys-its/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [The translation process becomes a highly subjective thing - turning reds and blues into black-and-whiteness. It's really bizarre for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-longo/the-translation-process-becomes-a-highly-subjective-thing-turning/) [Robert Longo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-longo/) > [The Nazis played the same games against Jews that today’s left plays against 'Eurocentrism,' 'whiteness,' and 'logocentrism.' When you hear a campus radical denounce…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-nazis-played-the-same-games-against-jews-that-today-s-left-plays/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I write very rarely. Only, in fact, when the sheet of paper suffers an existential crisis and threatens, if I don't surrender to it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiki-dimoula/i-write-very-rarely-only-in-fact-when-the-sheet-of-paper-suffers-an/) [Kiki Dimoula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiki-dimoula/) > [It is such a supreme folly to believe that nuclear weapons are deadly only if they're used.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/it-is-such-a-supreme-folly-to-believe-that-nuclear-weapons-are-deadly/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [“To Trump whiteness is neither notional nor symbolic but is the very core of his power. In this, Trump is not singular. But whereas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/to-trump-whiteness-is-neither-notional-nor-symbolic-but-is-the-very/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) ## More by Richard Dyer > [“In Western tradition, white is beautiful because it is the colour of virtue. This remarkable equation relates to a particular definition of goodness. All…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dyer/in-western-tradition-white-is-beautiful-because-it-is-the-colour-of/) [Richard Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dyer/) > [“As Lucy Hughes-Hallett (1990: 253) puts it, her reputation for beauty, though unsupported by any historical evidence, was unassailable, but it was not consonant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dyer/as-lucy-hughes-hallett-1990-253-puts-it-her-reputation-for-beauty/) [Richard Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dyer/) > [“The history of representations of Cleopatra provides one of the clearest instances of the conviction that whiteness is the pinnacle of human beauty. Cleopatra…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dyer/the-history-of-representations-of-cleopatra-provides-one-of-the/) [Richard Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dyer/) > [“Just as the vampires’ whiteness conveys their own deadness, so too their bringing of death is signalled by whiteness – their victims grow pale,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dyer/just-as-the-vampires-whiteness-conveys-their-own-deadness-so-too/) [Richard Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dyer/) > [“figure of the ideal Aryan, with blond hair and blue eyes – hair the colour of the sun, eyes the colour of the sky.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dyer/figure-of-the-ideal-aryan-with-blond-hair-and-blue-eyes-hair-the/) [Richard Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dyer/) > [The complex ways in which we produce and reproduce the world in technologically developed societies involves the ways in which we separate ourselves into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dyer/the-complex-ways-in-which-we-produce-and-reproduce-the-world-in/) [Richard Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dyer/) > [The Vores Third Quartet is a terrific piece that brings disparate components into harmony. . . it's celebratory, imaginative, touching, and fun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dyer/the-vores-third-quartet-is-a-terrific-piece-that-brings-disparate/) [Richard Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dyer/) > [“Death may in some traditions be a vivid experience, but within much of the white tradition it is a blank that may be immateriality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dyer/death-may-in-some-traditions-be-a-vivid-experience-but-within-much-of/) [Richard Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dyer/) > [Waltes is still played, which is a bowl and dice game that's traditional for this area.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dyer/waltes-is-still-played-which-is-a-bowl-and-dice-game-that-s/) [Richard Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dyer/) > [“The ideal of whiteness makes a strong appeal. It flatters white people by associating them with (what they define as) the best in human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dyer/the-ideal-of-whiteness-makes-a-strong-appeal-it-flatters-white-people/) [Richard Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dyer/) > [It's quite a trick to use three instruments to tell the story of two people, but Vores carried it off; three, for once, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dyer/it-s-quite-a-trick-to-use-three-instruments-to-tell-the-story-of-two/) [Richard Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dyer/) > [“The development of an image of the glowing human being can be traced in European art. One index of it is the means for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dyer/the-development-of-an-image-of-the-glowing-human-being-can-be-traced/) [Richard Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dyer/) > [“Light from above is virtuously Northern; it is also, as the last quotation suggests, celestial. Heaven had been seen as a place of light…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dyer/light-from-above-is-virtuously-northern-it-is-also-as-the-last/) [Richard Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dyer/) > [“The secularisation and feminine specification of this seems to have been effected through the figure of the woman as angel, enlightened and enlightening. Theologically,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dyer/the-secularisation-and-feminine-specification-of-this-seems-to-have/) [Richard Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dyer/) > [“It is at the heart of the vampire myth. The vampire is dead but also brings death. Because vampires are dead, they are pale,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dyer/it-is-at-the-heart-of-the-vampire-myth-the-vampire-is-dead-but-also/) [Richard Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dyer/) [Explore all 20 Richard Dyer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dyer/) ## More Racism quotes > [Race is the idea that a human being is more superior than another human being, race in society grants illusional rights to mistreat each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-limn/race-is-the-idea-that-a-human-being-is-more-superior-than-another/) [Jeremy Limn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-limn/) > [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. The idea of them as agents and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/the-image-of-blacks-usually-is-one-of-people-who-are-suffering-from/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [If I had to guess and put a name on it, I'd say that at some point, the drug war was as much a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-simon/if-i-had-to-guess-and-put-a-name-on-it-i-d-say-that-at-some-point-the/) [David Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-simon/) > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures bristling with prejudice and motivated by pride and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-carnegie/when-dealing-with-people-remember-you-are-not-dealing-with-creatures/) [Dale Carnegie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-carnegie/) > [We have to build our own power. We have to win every single political office we can, where we have a majority of black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/we-have-to-build-our-own-power-we-have-to-win-every-single-political/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [Racism is a cancer. You cannot ignore it and it'll go away. If you ignore cancer, it simply metastasizes and consumes the whole body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-davis/racism-is-a-cancer-you-cannot-ignore-it-and-it-ll-go-away-if-you/) [Daryl Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-davis/) > [The color of somebody's skin or the way he wears his hair or clothes has nothing to do with anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-color-of-somebody-s-skin-or-the-way-he-wears-his-hair-or-clothes/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Well, I've been politically involved for a really long time. Growing up in the segregated South, it was a very painful experience for me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cybill-shepherd/well-i-ve-been-politically-involved-for-a-really-long-time-growing-up/) [Cybill Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cybill-shepherd/) > [This is, for an accomplished Latino, an accomplished African American, an accomplished anyone who disproves stereotypes, it's a constant battle in your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-sotomayor/this-is-for-an-accomplished-latino-an-accomplished-african-american/) [Sonia Sotomayor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-sotomayor/) > [Caught in a racial uproar, people make all sorts of promises to make amends. Whatever they do tends to be heavy on symbolism and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-capehart/caught-in-a-racial-uproar-people-make-all-sorts-of-promises-to-make/) [Jonathan Capehart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-capehart/) > [I hate prejudice on any level. I don't care if it's somebody being discriminated against because of the color of their skin or their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlamagne-tha-god/i-hate-prejudice-on-any-level-i-don-t-care-if-it-s-somebody-being/) [Charlamagne tha God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlamagne-tha-god/) > [We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-biko/we-do-not-want-to-be-reminded-that-it-is-we-the-indigenous-people-who/) [Steven Biko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-biko/) > [Black Privilege is a concrete motive that black people benefit from, such as racism but racism on whites. Black people don't know it but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/black-privilege-is-a-concrete-motive-that-black-people-benefit-from/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you do a black character or a female character or an Asian character, then they aren't just that character. They represent that race…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-mcduffie/if-you-do-a-black-character-or-a-female-character-or-an-asian/) [Dwayne McDuffie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-mcduffie/) [Browse all 10,057 Racism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Yet the lure of the ideal is also, often imperceptibly, haunted by misgiving, even anxiety. Not only is whiteness as absence impossible, it is not wholly desirable. To relinquish dirt and stains, corporeality and thingness, is also to relinquish both the pleasures of the flesh and the reproduction upon which whiteness as racial power depends. To be nothing is to be dead, something”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Dyer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dyer/yet-the-lure-of-the-ideal-is-also-often-imperceptibly-haunted-by/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Racism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dyer/yet-the-lure-of-the-ideal-is-also-often-imperceptibly-haunted-by/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f2/richard-dyer-27411_quote_yet-the-lure-of-the-ideal-is-also-often_1982381.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f2/richard-dyer-27411_quote_yet-the-lure-of-the-ideal-is-also-often_1982381.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f2/richard-dyer-27411_quote_yet-the-lure-of-the-ideal-is-also-often_1982381.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Yet the lure of the ideal is also, often imperceptibly, haunted by misgiving, even anxiety. Not only is…” — Richard Dyer", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Richard Dyer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dyer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Yet the lure of the ideal...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dyer/yet-the-lure-of-the-ideal-is-also-often-imperceptibly-haunted-by/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dyer/yet-the-lure-of-the-ideal-is-also-often-imperceptibly-haunted-by/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```