Uh-oh, brace for impact because another recession indicator just dropped! Tiger Woods and his new GF are front-page news again! Now, I know I said new, but there’s actually something eerily familiar about Tiger’s fresh new relaysh. Tiger’s latest lady love, Vanessa Trump (yes, of the democracy-destroying New York Trumps), is… drumroll please… a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, white woman. The only reason this is significant, of course, is because Tiger’s first wife, the iconic Elin Nordegren, had the same blonde beach babe vibe (in case you couldn’t clock it from her Scandinavian last name). And she’s not the only tall, blonde Barbie in the mix. Far from it: almost every woman Tiger has publicly romanced has fit the bill. So, I did a little digging: How much does having a type influence your relationships?

Tiger Woods’ Dating History

LeAnn Rimes

LeAnn Rimes

This man has a track record when it comes to dating his type, that’s for sure! Before marrying Elin, Tiger was linked to LeAnn Rimes in 2002. LeAnn is, you guessed it, a blue-eyed blondie.

Elin Nordegren

Elin Nordegren

Tiger married Elin in 2004, and as we all know all to well, the rest was some very messy history. The couple’s nearly decade-long tenure ended with a bang when the media cashed in on Tiger’s adulterous crash out. Unsurprisingly, some of Tiger’s alleged extramarital partners, like pornographic actress Holly Sampson, were exposed and also fit the bill.

Lindsey Vonn

Lindsey Vonn

It’s genuinely hard to tell Tiger’s next long-term girlfriend in 2015, Lindsey Vonn, apart from his following fling with the equally Amazonian Kristin Smith.

Kristin Dodson Smith

US fashion stylist Kristin Dodson Smith

Kristin is a well-known fashion stylist whose own icy blonde style helped her fit right in with Tiger’s roster.

Erica Herman

Tiger Woods and Erica Herman

To be fair, prior to finding love with Vanessa, Tiger’s last GF was different. Erica Herman, whom he dated from 2017 to 2022, was the brunette sheep of the bunch.

Why do people have “types” in dating?

Tiger Woods and Elin

Yes, according to science, leaning into a specific dating preference is pretty natural. A study in 2015 showed that the general public agrees on 50% of who they find attractive, meaning at least half of the people you find hot would probably go over well in a fuck, marry, kill sesh during a dinner party. However, the other 50% was found to be greatly impacted by deeply personal experiences. Even identical twins with matching DNA and childhoods were found to have starkly different visual preferences.

The personal experiences that experts believe influence your type could be an extremely niche moment where you associated a positive experience with a certain face at a young age, and thus subconsciously continued that positive association as you got older or being exposed to a certain look more than others over time could be the culprit.

Psychology Today assessed several studies in 2019 that gave some solid evidence that having a strong personality type was equally as common. Using the big five personality traits (extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism), researchers found there was a “significant link” between a subject’s current and ex-partner, personality-wise. The real tea? This “unique association” was just as strong as the connection between the current partners themselves.

Is it bad to stick to a certain type in dating?

With all of that science being said, no one decides who you’re going to date but you. Hey, even Tiger switched it up aesthetic-wise, and that ended being his second longest reported relationship (even if it ended, um, less than ideally)! Pushing yourself to look at people as holistic partners, instead of staying comfortable with what you see on the surface, could be the key to unlocking a whole new fruitful dating pool.

If you’re interested in someone but you find out one way or another that you’re not their usual type, don’t let that hold you back either. Unless they dangled that info to neg you (red flag), there’s a reason they’re interested in you, just the way you are. Plus, maybe their type hasn’t been working out for a reason. Opposites attract, bb!

What’s the difference between having a type and fetishization?

Having a type is all fun and games when we’re talking Love Island, but oftentimes, especially when mixed-race couples enter the chat, potential fetishization of a different culture can come up as a concern.

Fetishization goes beyond a preference; it’s when someone reduces others to a single factor, like race, and uses that trait as an instant qualifier to consider dating. The way the suitor latches onto this trait is often through offensive stereotypes and fantasized tropes instead of being based on real experiences with real people.

If you find yourself (or a potential romantic interest) discussing a human being like the chance to try out a hot new food trend on TikTok, then it’s time to consider if they want a relationship or to tick an item off their to-do list.