[Cogito]

Throwing some anecdote into the ring - I grew up in a primarily white, rural area (in Australia). I went to a university in the city, which has a large Asian contingent (in fact the city as a whole is a lot more multicultural).

During my time there I noticed a drastic change in both the frequency and intensity of my attraction towards Asian women (though it was never particularly high in general). In particular, I noticed a significant (positive) change after spending significant in the direct company of Asian women (and men).

My belief for why this was the case has always been in-line with the authors statement

"I think that’s no coincidence. Beauty is a cultural idea as much as a physical one, and the standard is of course set by the dominant culture."

I had never had much of a chance to interact with Asians growing up, besides the local chinese restaurant and a few kids in my class. At university it felt like I had to overcome the 'newness' of these people I was meeting before I might be attracted to them.

I'm sure studies have tried to approach this idea; it seems like the same idea could apply to any minority that are 'different' enough from everyone else, even if there is no overt racism in play.

[PudgePacket]

Perhaps it has some correlation with the own-race bias http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-race_effect.