I recently ran across “Curly vs. Straight: Which Do Men Prefer?” (posted by “NaturallyCurly” on the DivineCaroline™ website), and I decided to offer my own observations on this topic as well. The author writes that:
“I embarked on an unscientific social experiment. Newly single in New York City, I joined a popular online dating service and posted two profiles. They were identical in every way - except one. The first profile included a picture of my hair flat-ironed straight. For the other, my hair was naturally curly. After one month showcasing the straight profile and the next month curly, more than twice as many men responded to the straight look.”
But rather than just ask guys which hair style they prefer, she gets more devious. Women suspect (usually correctly) that men hoping to get laid are not likely to be forthcoming about making negative comments about the woman’s looks or style, even if she looks dreadful.
So here was the curve ball that she threw to each guy she had selected for a date:
“On my dates, the plan was to find out what they really think when I show up as the opposite of what they expect. If they reach out to my straight profile, I would meet them as a curly, and vice versa. Would my hairstyle really affect their attraction?”
Had she thought about it some more, she would have recognized that the guys on the dates are still not likely to be forthcoming, at least not until after she had put out. In fact, not even the taxi driver taking her to her first date wanted to be candid on her look … why risk a smaller tip (or even no tip) by guessing wrong about what response she was looking for?
After all, when we want something from a woman, we’ll tell her what we think she wants to hear … just as women will do to us when they want something.
It’s human nature to tell people
what we think they want to hear
The results of her unscientific experiment were that most men did indeed prefer straight hair to curly hair.
What a girl with somewhat curly hair might look like
But any guy could have told her that … given the choice, men seem to prefer long hair over short hair on a woman, and straight hair rather than curly hair.
And most women can sense this, that being why so many women with long, straight hair will usually wait until after they marry to switch to a short hair style (and then they’re likely to curl what little hair they have left in an effort to avoid looking too much like a man).
Guys know that look:
we call it “married hair”
And that isn’t a compliment.
Here’s another quote from the article that caught my eye: “none of my dates developed into long-lasting connections”.
Gee, I wonder why?
Could it be that she was just using the guys for research purposes? And that she was using a “bait and switch” strategy (using one look to bait them and then the opposite look when they showed up on the date)?
That could easily given these guys the impression that she’s a game-player (rather than sincere) and that can lead savvy guys to cross a woman off their list.
And that could also give the impression that she is tremendously insecure (changing her look so quickly can suggest that the woman hates what she sees when she looks into the mirror), and this could also give guys some pause.
And yes, she’s also shallow
She also gives the impression of shallowness by the way she identifies the six bachelors who were part of this experience.
Rather than humanizing them with a name (e.g. “Jim, age 34 … Bill, age 29 … Sean, age 32 … Carlos, age 35 … Massimo, age 31 … Will, age 33”), she lists them only by their occupations: “Financial-Services Executive … Italian Business Owner … Cuban Marketing Executive … Music Executive … Sales Executive … Italian Model”.
“…
the actual human being inside each guy is an afterthought to them
…”
Perhaps this was done subconsciously (given how much women seem to compete with each other about who can attract the most alpha men), so that you’ll assume that she must be one major fox herself?
But my guess (from having seen so many women man-hunt this way) is that they’re looking to land a category of guy (wealthy or at least very prosperous in business, and GQ looks are a definite plus). The old cliché about “you are what you eat” is changed to “you are what you earn”. The actual human being inside each guy is an afterthought to them.
Nick’s note:
Quelle surprise that women love to claim to hold the upper ground because they “look deeper” than we do. They don’t and are usually every bit as superficial as we are - sometimes moreso.
Back to Mack…
So, which do men prefer …
curly or straight?
Most men we’ve talked to seem to prefer looking at women with straight hair, especially if it’s also long. But when it comes to being with a woman, her sincerity matters far more than whether her hair is curly or straight at the time.
The fact is, none of her dates (whether she was curly or straight at the time) developed into anything with long-term potential, so it would seem that focusing on the superficial (hair) is not a winning strategy in matters of the heart.
Perhaps it would be a better idea to worry less about the gift-wrapping and to focus more on “the gift” itself?
Stay tuned,
-Mack Doppler
