OKCupid study shows women say 80% of men are "below average" looking

[starlord]

Possible but... it seems unlikely. OK Cupid has a pretty big following, it would be surprising if the men patronizing the site were far below the mean, but the women were about as expected with a random sample. I would think that just the few pictures that they showed would make you think, it's not that.

But yea, a better study would control for that.


A good point, but I just don't think it's that. Hrm.

male standards of beauty are pretty ambiguous below a certain point. i think maybe women can agree on the hottest of the hot but not below that.

---------- Post added 2012-11-14 at 04:41 PM ----------

The "80%" isn't just confined to men on that site.

i think it was, how else did they compare the messaging data?

[Rukentuts]

i think it was, how else did they compare the messaging data?

The 80% in the OP is. But in my opinion the appearance of both genders on that site are pretty equal.

[Christan]

Well, if that is the case, then I don't want to hear women bitching about the pressure to look good by men, because clearly they are as vapid and shallow as us.

kind of agree with this statement.

however i would also like to point out, if its 80% of women, and it's talking about the 'average'
clearly 30% of those women have much higher expectations on what "average" means.

[Strah]

Definitely feels good to be in the 20% .

[Belize]

Well it looks like I'm in the 20% hehe... I wish...

[Veyne]

And what percentage of women do men say are "below average" looking? It takes effort to look good. Women try harder than men. MOST people have the capability of being attractive if they try hard enough. It really takes a lot for someone to be unattractive without hope. Particularly, most men don't know how to dress themselves very well, and a well dressed man can do a lot to increase their perceived attractiveness. It's not even necessarily about the style of clothing either, but the fit, as well. Advice: if you lack a natural affinity for it, find a fashionable gay friend to help you out. XD

[Drekker17]

People are given an artificial view of people nowadays so it isn't shocking, what if all the women weren't allowed to wear makeup, I'm sure the numbers would be similar.

Most men in media wear makeup or use similar techniques to make them pretty (fake eyelashes etc), the use has increased a lot lately where pretty much no men you see are remotely natural.

[Veyne]

Most men in media wear makeup or use similar techniques to make them pretty (fake eyelashes etc), the use has increased a lot lately where pretty much no men you see are remotely natural.

Which also brings up an interesting point. Back in the day, men wore plenty of makeup regularly as well. Now it seems like makeup for men has reached a socially unacceptable point unless you are performing. There's actually a lot that a man can do to wear make up "naturally," that most people would be none-the-wiser about. Very subtle use of bronzer to enhance the jawline, a light layer of foundation to cover skin imperfections and to even the tone, even a little bit of eyeliner and eye shadow to make the eyes more pronounced. The art is to make sure it's not noticeable. The lighter your hair and skin are, the lighter the makeup you have to go with. Browns and beige towns for people with lighter hair and skin.

I probably really need to say something stereotypically heterosexual right about now, lul.

[Laize]

And what percentage of women do men say are "below average" looking? It takes effort to look good. Women try harder than men. MOST people have the capability of being attractive if they try hard enough. It really takes a lot for someone to be unattractive without hope. Particularly, most men don't know how to dress themselves very well, and a well dressed man can do a lot to increase their perceived attractiveness. It's not even necessarily about the style of clothing either, but the fit, as well. Advice: if you lack a natural affinity for it, find a fashionable gay friend to help you out. XD

It's all there in the article if you read it.

Male opinion of female attractiveness formed, according to the survey, an almost perfect bell curve. A natural distribution.

---------- Post added 2012-11-15 at 01:18 AM ----------

I probably really need to say something stereotypically heterosexual right about now, lul.

EVERYONE LOVES EXPLOSIONS AND GUNS!!!



Monster trucks!

Also this meme routinely makes me laugh.

http://www.quickmeme.com/overly-manly-man/

[anthemm]

I'm wondering what the ages of those studied are. From what I've observed, younger women tend to be immature, and more obsessed with good looks (while young men tend to be unabashed perverts obsessed with getting laid, to be fair).

It's pretty annoying to hear girls bloviate about how Brad Pitt is so hot. You know when girls are like, "OMG that guy is SO hot," it makes them look frivolous. Luckily, I think, girls grow out of that phase.

What annoys me to no end, though, is when mediocre-looking people (of whatever sex) are critical of other peoples' appearances. It's hypocritical.

[Tinykong]

The attractive looking guys get the girls, the funny ones with money keep them.

True story.

[Deleted]

I think that the appreciations of "average-above average-below average" basically are a relative measurement of the attractiveness of the guy with the self-perceived attractiveness of the girl doing the appreciation.
Average - barely attractive enough for me
Above average - attractive enough for me
Below average - not attractive enough for me

So, when replying to this question, most people don't reply on terms of what they consider to be average, instead they consider themselves to be the standard of measurement.

[Rooflesstoofless]

Shallow wenches.

I think it has a lot to do with the media, Women are given a very unrealistic expectation of what men should look like.

They expect us to look like this:

Too manly. Manly men aren't attractive anymore thanks to what the media pushes on both genders.


Most women want a girly(er) Jason Preasly with his nuts removed and a skin condition:


sigh...I remember the good ol' days when women would swoon over a man that didn't look like he'd be scared of his own farts.

[Cliff]

Ugly people and attention whores register to internet dating sites. With that very simple premise, the numbers make tons of sence.

Having said that, I probably find 15-18% of women that I meet/see to be attractive, 32-35% average and the rest ugly. The fact is, that we can all think similarly with a cool head, but personality and how horny I am at the momment really throw those numbers off balance, so I guess you could say shits not black and white.

Also, lol @ people that think women aren't shallow, they're just smart enough to make compromises if the person represents security in the form of excessive confidence (douchebag), wealth, or a great personality (funny, interesting guys). I personally know an overweight, ugly guy that has a great personality (funny, smart) and manages to get some really hot ladies (physically speaking, WAYYYY out of his league).

[Deleted]

Too manly. Manly men aren't attractive anymore thanks to what the media pushes on both genders.


Most women want a girly(er) Jason Preasly with his nuts removed and a skin condition:
[IMG]http://suvudu.com/files/mt-files/Edward%20Cullen.jpg[IMG]

sigh...I remember the good ol' days when women would swoon over a man that didn't look like he'd be scared of his own farts.

Not exactly, I know 23 women friends(not all are exactly that friends with me) and only 2 or 1 like a guy like that.

[melodramocracy]

FTA:

"As you can see from the gray line, women rate an incredible 80% of guys as worse-looking than medium."

Though there are exceptions, women are raised believing they are to be pursued, not to be pursuers. This (likely unconscious) thought process leads to having a far higher set of expectations.

Some other issues with that article.... most people, when judging pretty much anything on a scale from 0-5, will give something they consider 'average' a higher score than 2.5. Most folks will judge on a fairly ramped scale, where 2.5 is actually fairly poor, a 3.5 is average, 4.5 is really good, and 5 is absolutely exceptional.

[FathomFear]

Shallow wenches.

I think it has a lot to do with the media, Women are given a very unrealistic expectation of what men should look like.

They expect us to look like this:



When in reality we look more like this:

How is that any better/worse than women being expected to have a slim/hourglass figure?

Also, getting in shape (even ripped) isn't "unrealistic". Lots of guys achieve it. It just takes dedication.

[mvaliz]

Women (particularly in America) have their choice of men... we literally throw ourselves at their feet.

Basically, they can pick and choose any guy they want... men - OTOH - do not have such a choice.

What's the longest a woman here ever gone being single? 6 months? I've known guys (including myself) who have gone for decades without a single date.

[Psilar]

The answer is..... 80% of women are terrible at math

[PizzaSHARK]

The thing that boggled my mind about the study was that 80% of men being "below average" is a mathematical impossibility.

There's something going on, but all I can get from the article is "fgsfdsa?"

But this isn't a study on all men everywhere, it's a study on all men on OKCupid. Saying 80% of all men on OKCupid are ugly (which, given the nature of dating sites, is an actual possibility) is not the same as saying 80% of all men are ugly.