General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: "I've started telling my daughters I'm beautiful" [View all]Laelth
(32,017 posts)... to specific biological factors in men as well. I don't think this science is particularly gender-exclusive (i.e. it doesn't just apply to men or just to women). If I recall, I think women are most attracted to men who are not bald and who have approximately 15% body fat. Women are also most sexually-attracted to men with high testosterone levels because testosterone is an immuno-suppressant, and the biological logic for this preference is that a boy with high testosterone who survives childhood has got to have a killer immune system or he would have never survived. Thus, women who mate with men who have high testosterone levels are more likely to produce children with superior immune systems.
This stuff works both ways. Personally, as a short, balding, moderate-testosterone man, I might wish that this science were inaccurate or flawed, but it appears pretty solid to me, and I would say the same about the science that describes men's preferences in women. Life would be a lot easier for men if they were sexually attracted to a wider range of body types, complexions, bone structures, etc., but for most of us, it appears, that's just not the case.
I prefer to see the world as it is, not as I wish it to be. This science may not be wishful thinking. It may be solid science, and I would argue that this science does not, in any way, "favor" men, as you suggest.
-Laelth