Rodney Chester has reported the ground-breaking news on male preferences in women with his “Men find thin, seductive women most attractive, a US university study finds” article in the Courier-Mail.
While there’s no doubting the fact that men love thin and seductive women, the slant of the piece is very much politically correct, to the point where I strongly suspect that the writer is a die-hard feminist.
Take a look at these three points at the top of the article: “Attraction different for men, women … Superficial beauty appeals to men … Women have more diverse requirements.”
The last two points in particular raise a red flag for me. Here’s why the “superficial beauty appeals to men” one doesn’t pass the smell test:
“The study, perhaps not surprisingly, found men’s view on the attractiveness of different women was defined by physical features, with women who looked thin and seductive getting the highest ratings”.
Of course it’s not surprising … if you ask someone to rate the attractiveness of women based solely on pictures, what does a picture show? Yes, that’s right: the person’s physical attributes. What basis did they expect guys to use for rating pictures … the women’s astrological signs? The pretty colors in the background?
It’s also hard to believe that women can somehow demonstrate “more diverse requirements” by rating a picture.
After all, I’ve seen a similar study quite a few years back that found that women tended to be largely in agreement as to which men (from a selection of pictures) were good-looking, just as men tended to be largely in agreement as to which women were good-looking.
“…
from a Darwinian standpoint, it wouldn’t make sense for this not to be the case.
…”
From a Darwinian standpoint, it wouldn’t make sense for this not to be the case.
Since that study was a few years back, it could be that the female nature is evolving at hypersonic speed.
Or maybe (just maybe) it could be that study was structured to get the desired outcome of making women seem less shallow than men.
The conclusion (“The study … could mean it’s not just money and security that lures many attractive young women to far less attractive older men”) leads me to suspect that this research may have been tailored that way.
If it’s any help, from all of the anecdotal evidence I’ve seen over the years, women seem to be pretty much in agreement about what makes a guy good-looking so I’m quite dubious about that part of their conclusion … there’s almost certainly a hidden agenda here.
“Thin” and “seductive” women
got the highest ratings
What does “thin” mean in this regard? If it’s defined the way women do it when referring to their own desired weight, then “thin = anorexic.” The truly venomous comments on chat boards that “thin women = stick insects” seem to invariably arise from female posters (who I’d wager are overweight by a considerable amount).
However, most guys don’t really want (or even like) the Kate Moss look … in fact, that look seems to appeal far more to women than to men.
Most guys like some curves and you don’t get many of those with anorexic women. If you’re in doubt, ask 100 guys to describe their ideal woman and see how many list “no tits” and “no ass” as being high on their “must have” traits list.
“…
look at any 100 models on any of the millions of “adult” or “bikini” sites oriented toward men
…”
Here’s another quick test: look at any 100 models on any of the millions of “adult” or “bikini” sites oriented toward men. You won’t find any anorexic girls on those sites unless they’re fetish sites for that specific look. Instead the women are normally very curvy (to the point where silicon breast enhancements are used to added even more curves).
At the other extreme, the researchers may have defined “thin” for this purpose as being, “less than 300 pounds”. In that case, they’ll sure get the desired result of guys preferring thin women.
So in the end, there’s a happy medium between “thin as a twig” and “land whale”. Everyone’s opinion of “thin” is different.
But if you really want to make a determined effort to define “thin” then try the waist:hip ratio.
Numerous studies examining human sexual attraction have determined that the optimal female waist:hip ratio is 0.7 from a male standpoint.
So what about seductive?
And on “seductive”, what exactly does that mean?
It’s another subjective term that’s largely meaningless if not objectively defined. “seductive” means “not looking cold and bitchy”, then of course men will prefer the seductive ones.
Here’s a pretty good example of what I consider seductive, for sure:
What a seductive woman might look like
Then again, I’m a sucker for a pretty Asian girl just about every time, anyway.
Are men responsible for
women’s eating disorders?
One of the closing comments in the article was that:
“The researchers said the findings had implications for further understanding eating disorders and why women feel greater pressures to conform to a perception of physical attractiveness.’
What implications, I ask?
That it’s somehow men’s fault that women have eating disorders?
Refer again to my comment on the models you’ll find at bikini sites and adult sites oriented toward a male audience. Those women are not anorexic. Here’s an good example which I very helpfully researched for you:
Bikini model: not anorexic and attractive to men
By comparison, here’s a fashion model who’s catering to the female market (and who looks pretty close to anorexic to me):
Anorexic fashion model: attractive to women, apparently
So which gender’s responsible for the pressure on girls to be “too thin”? I’d say it’s not us guys.
That “media beauty standards” crap is mythical B.S. Men are attracted to what they’ve always been attracted to. Yes, there are some slight diversions, but in general it’s not changed in 2,000 years.
The media tries to redefine beauty to sell magazines, make-up and other products. It’s a big lie to convince us that our lot in life is changeable.
The truth is Brad Pitt is good looking now and would be good looking 150 years ago. Sofia Loren and Gisele could trade places and both would attract all kinds of male attention.
And here’s one final point to think about
Even though there’s pressure on women to be physically attractive for us … there’salso pressure on us guys to earn a well-above-average income in order to attract desirable women.
Both sides have their own challenge to meet when it comes to attracting desirable mates. That’s life, and it can be tough on either side of the gender divide.
Until next time,
-Nick Thomas
