Thank Heaven For Studies (Ongoing...)

Via Drudge we get the shocking news that women are "drawn to men with muscles".  I am able to complement this carefully-designed study with a bit of field research, since I stumbled across a recent People magazine bringing us up to speed on the "Single & Sizzling Men of '07".  Let's see:

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY

The Hottest Bachelors cover star is renowned for his rakish smile, sparkling eyes and – how could we forget? – his killer abs.

Whatever.  Frankly, this part of the purportedly serious study strikes me as a joke:

He and colleagues interviewed 99 male undergraduates about their sexual histories. Muscular men were twice as likely to have had more than three sex partners than less-built types.

Kidding?  I'll bet right now that the ability to pack on muscle is correlated with testosterone levels, which may also be correlated with sex drive.  Geez, just a guess.  More from the AP:

Frederick and colleagues also asked 141 college women to look at six standardized silhouettes of men ranging from brawny to slender. Most preferred a toned man who was more likely to commit over a muscle-bound man they perceived as more volatile, aggressive and dominant.

No relative rankings of toned womanizers versus brawny committed homebuilders?

Which way to the beach...

Comments

[Jane]

There are muscles and there are muscles. I like looking at the men who look like they care what they look like, but don't care too much.

[hit and run]

Well. I wasn't muscle-bound, but I was in great shape as a college athlete.

But I zero sex partners until the night of my marriage. By choice.

Though I confess to barely being able to claim that. You see there was this one time....

[VIMH: STOP! Walk away from the keyboard now]
You're not the boss of me.

OK, there was this girl in college, she was 24 and I was 19...

[VIMH: Don't do it...Just don't do it]
Whaddya gone do about it, scrawny?

OK, we were just hanging out friends, got along great, loved to talk. Then it was Valentines and I...

[VIMH: Seriously, this can lead to nothing good. Think of your reputation]
Dude. This is my reputation. Barely tangential stories.

I bought her a gift which seemed to spark something, I guess. So anyway, later on we were....

[VIMH: OK, tell the story, in all its detail. They'll love it!]
You think reverse psychology is gonna work on me? C'mon

[VIMH: No really, I'm with you. Go for it!]
Whatever, now I'm not in the mood.

[Sue]

H&R,

LOL. I don't know what you do for a living, but you should be writing comedy.

[Lesley]

Another point of view!

"Corpulent men are funnier, less dominated by foppish styles and better in bed."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/men/article2049288.ece

[clarice]

Sue, you had to encourage him?

(There's a reason Jane and I fight tooth and nail over him.)

[Sue]

LOL. You girls can fight for him, but I have the beer connection. Sorry. ::grin::

[Lesley]

Why I Love Getting to Grips With A Fat Man

[hit and run]

Sue:
I don't know what you do for a living, but you should be writing comedy.

Yeah, TM doesn't pay much.

[hit and run]

You girls can fight for him, but I have the beer connection.

And Texas!

[hit and run]

Clarice:
There's a reason Jane and I fight tooth and nail over him

Wait?!?!?!

You've heard that story about the girl in college?

[hit and run]

Sue:
I don't know what you do for a living

You sound just like my boss.

[Sue]

You sound just like my boss.

The one who writes your paycheck or the one you lovingly refer to as Mrs. H&R? ::smile::

[Lesley]

Jack Nicholson Still A Sex Symbol

Hehe.

[Lesley]

Sorry sorry, bad link. New link.

Nicholson Link

[PeterUK]

"But I zero sex partners until the night of my marriage. By choice."

That's nothing,a lot of men have zero sex partners after marriage and there ain't no choice involved.

[maryerose]

I have to admit that my husband does have good muscles and does run and swim to keep fit.

[Miracle Max]

[W]omen are "drawn to men with muscles". . . .

I can testify to that.

[RalphL]

The muscular men were boinking each other, which skewed the results. That and the steroids.

[cathyf]

You may sneer at these studies, but this seems to be part of a whole class of studies which I find quite fascinating. These are studies where you ask women what men want physically in a sexual partner, and then you ask men what they want. And the other way around, which is you ask men what women find attractive, and then you ask women.

There is a whole (*cough**cough*bogus) school of feminism which blames men and their standards of attractiveness for forcing women into everything from anorexia to high heels. But when psychologists study what men are actually aroused by, big breasts top the list. They don't care about some extra fat on hips, thighs, tummies or anywhere else, as long as there is plenty of fat right there on the chest. And they are totally oblivious to shoes. It's women who think that the flat-as-a-board supermodel wearing the stilettos is attractive -- the guys' attitude is that her lack of breasts is a flaw which she might be able to overcome.

There is also a school of men who complain about women, and that their unreasonable demands for physical attractiveness harms men. Studies like this would tend to help us decide if there is something to that, or if the male idea of male attractiveness to females is as delusional as the female idea of female attractiveness to males.

Of course the other obvious response is to note that women seem attracted to male muscularity in the wallet far more than the abdomen...

[Ann]

There's a reason Jane and I fight tooth and nail over him

Heh I was the one opining for H&R when he was on vacation.

H&R

You have the two things women love. You are smart and funny just like my husband. Do you have blue eyes? :)

[hit and run]

Do you have blue eyes?

I call them cerulean.

[clarice]

In the long run, a sense of humor is more important than muscles which rarely make it thru for more than a couple of decades.

My favorite study which claimed women acted more in accord with their sexual desires. Men were asked howmuch sex they wanted and most admitted they didn't get it as often as they wanted whereas women always did.
Can you figure out why this is apreposterous study to make such a braod claim about? If so, you make it to second grade.

[clarice]

**Pls overlook the typos. It's thundering and kitty who was running and hiding in impossible to find places now is curled at my feet.

[MikeS]

likely to have had more than three sex partners

Wow! I can't say I've never thought about it but ... Well you would have to be in pretty good shape, wouldn't you?

[clarice]

Not at the same time,MikeS! Gee..

[Ann]

Who said:

Beauty Fades...Stupid is Forever!

Good Advise. (My daughter hears it regularly)

[Ann]

I call them cerulean.

Smart, funny, sky blue eyes...yes ladies that's what I'm talking about :)

[hit and run]

Cathy:
But when psychologists study what men are actually aroused by, big breasts top the list. They don't care about some extra fat on hips, thighs, tummies or anywhere else, as long as there is plenty of fat right there on the chest.

Cathy, you're on the same wavelength as Jonah over at the Corner who also noticed the study:

I bet you could get that team on another burning question: What draws men to Pam Anderson?

[cathyf]

What draws men to Pam Anderson?

Well, according to the research I've seen, the Pam Anderson look (big breasts on an otherwise skinny woman) is still the first choice. The interesting question is who is second choice -- Callista Flockhardt or Marilyn Monroe? And the research says that the Marilyn sillouette wins over the Callista sillouette every time among men, while women asked what they think men want pick Callista.

[Sue]

Look, I'm not ashamed to admit it. Matthew McConaughey is eye candy and I overindulge whenever possible. He is just enough pretty, but just enough bad boy not to be too pretty.

I like muscles, but not Arnold-type muscles. McConaughey is just about right. ::sigh::

[RalphL]

What draws men to Pam Anderson?

Eyeliner?

Someone famous pointed out that it's the gay fashion designers who want models to look like 1. walking coathangers or 2. 12 year old boys. IIRC, that was the only politically incorrect thing I ever heard on "Politically Incorrect."

[maryerose]

sense of humor is the number one trait for me. I agree with Clarice. I also don't think stupid is forever. Everyone can become educated. Just look at the movie"Born Yesterday".

[Crunchy Frog]

Reminds me of how everyone was shocked, shocked! that Brad Pitt would take Angelina Jolie over Jennifer Aniston...

I mean really, what guy wouldn't?

[maryerose]

Angelina Jolie is a good actress, a sincere humanitarian but she has an annoying habit of going after other people's husbands or fiance's. Laura Dern and Jennifer Aniston were both blindsided by her.The other guy was Billy Bob Thornton. She also has a distant relationship with her father John Voight.

[sylvia]

"He said prior studies concluded a man's desirability was influenced more by his earning potential and commitment. His study found physical characteristics mattered more."

Yes I think that's true. Where are all these women who are attracted to money? I don't really know of any. Most women/girls I ever knew would never go out with a nerdy rich guy over a cool muscular poor guy. Of course there are always going to be some women who go for the money, probably especially as they age, but not on the whole. Maybe 50 years ago when women couldn't work, but that stereotype has long been innaccurate.

As to men and Pam Anderson breasts, that is definitely true too. I've heard several stories about friends where the very flat breasts of very pretty girls have been the cause of much misery in the relationship, that didn't seem to get better over time, and a main factor in the relationship's ultimate demise. So there is a real reason so many women get the boob jobs. I don't know how much this holds for other cultures. But if it is merely cultural, than it is strange how persisent this ideal is for many men here.

[hit and run]

Cathy:
Well, according to the research I've seen

OK, I have to come back to this, simply cannot let it go because I remember this reference a while back and am convinced it was you...

"According to my research..."

Name that reference.

(was it you?)

[JM Hanes]

Well, according to the research I've done, there are photographs and then there's chemistry. Sorta like the difference between theory and events on the ground.

Looking around at couples everywhere, you'd have to say there's no accounting for taste, thank God.

[cathyf]

H&R, this one's for you:

"BEEP BEEP! Ride on the Magic Schoolbus!"

(Dorothy Ann being the answer...)

[sylvia]

"But when psychologists study what men are actually aroused by, big breasts top the list. They don't care about some extra fat on hips, thighs, tummies or anywhere else"

Although I agree that might be true, and that men are actually naturally attracted to a curvier, more zaftig figure, look at the wives of the rich and famous men today. They are all toothpicks to a T.

So I think men are influenced by the fashions as well. They might be more personally physically attracted to some weight on a woman, but I think more important to many people is societal status, and they pick out their toothpick female mates mainly to impress other men and women, not because they are personally that attracted to them.

Perhaps that is why lower class men seem to have less problem with the more zaftig women, as they are less out to impress and just choose whom they like.