Do women really age worse than men?

[CoalTit]

I just read a novel where the protagonist thinks at one point how women age worse than men, and it took me back to a couple of boyfriends in the nineties saying that as if it were just something that everyone knows. I was really surprised that anyone would think the sex that goes bald ages better. Do any women think men age better than women?
YABU: yes, women age (physically) worse than men do.
YANBU: no, men as a class age just as badly as women.

I've just done a quick Google as was surprised that women preferred feminine men and it seems fairly conclusive that strong men are preferred. I think what confuses it is that people always think of freakishly big guys like Arnold Schwarzenegger who are basically the male equivalent of Lolo Ferrari - gross caricatures.

There are tons more studies than the ones below but I'm just too lazy to post more.

"No one will be surprised by the idea that strong men are more attractive,” said study author Aaron Lukaszewski, an evolutionary psychologist at California State University at Fullerton. “It's no secret that women like strong, muscular guys.”

There was no nuance to these results, he said. Zero of the 160 women surveyed showed a statistical preference for weaker men.

Women rate the strongest men as the most attractive, study finds

www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/12/12/women-rate-the-strongest-men-as-the-most-attractive-study-finds/

Muscular men, regardless of their self-esteem, had more sexual partners.

Here are women’s average ratings for each male body type in terms of sexual attractiveness (on a scale of 1 to 9):

Built: 6.97

Toned: 6.87

Brawny: 6.37

Slender: 5.42

Typical: 4.28

Chubby: 2.95

Researchers have also found that a man’s physical formidability is a better predictor than his attractiveness for how many partners he has had.

In the study, researchers recorded short videos of 157 different men. Next, another group of men watched these videos. Researchers asked them a question about each of the men in the videos: “How likely is it that this man would win a physical fight with another man?” They used a scale ranging from “extremely likely” to “extremely unlikely.”

A group of women also viewed the videos. They responded to a question about each of the men: “How sexually attractive is this man?” They used a scale ranging from “extremely unattractive” to “extremely attractive.”

Eighteen months later, the men in the videos completed a questionnaire asking about their sexual history over the 18 months. How tough a guy looked to men predicted his reported mating success better than how attractive he looked to women. The researchers concluded, “Men with higher physical dominance, but not sexual attractiveness, reported higher quantitative mating success.”

www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/after-service/201907/5-reasons-why-muscles-matter-women-and-men?amp

This 100%!!!

I have so many attractive female friends, some absolute stunners and all late 40s early 50s
Our husbands all acknowledge (affectionately!) that we're ageing way better than them and that includes my dh who is 14 years younger than me!

@Penguinsaregreat There has been lots of research done on this and it’s been conclusive that women do prefer men with slimmer, more feminine features.

Care to share that conclusive research ?

Pics.
😙👌

Women often put more effort into not ageing as quickly. I think that is the main difference. If you compared men and women without any makeup or grooming or treatments it might be more of a level playing field and would just vary according to genetics.

Dare I say that the men just know what they need to say. 😂

I think there are massively different expectations placed on men and women in terms of ageing. Men are allowed to get craggy. Women would be called rough with the same skin texture.
It's a far bigger deal for women to embrace their greys as well.

I think some people age better than others due to genetics. I don't think it's along sex lines per se.

Eighteen months later, the men in the videos completed a questionnaire asking about their sexual history over the 18 months.

Anyone else have a problem with this on a scientific basis ? Who is checking that their history is correct ? Did they provide the names and contact details of all the women they slept with so they could check or were they just taking their word for it ?

@TokidokiBarbie I shall describe my DH as "physically formidable" from now on. 😂😂

Yeah, it's not a very scientific study but there are loads of others with similar results. The one about preferred body shape was another study but mentioned in same article. Generally most find that women prefer a 'manly' rather than androgynous figure.

I reckon loads more women want a Tom Hardy or Johnny Wilkinson than a David Bowie or Marilyn Mason.

😂

It is an ambiguous term though. I'd say Pavarotti was 'physically formidable'!

Bodies change as they get older, more wrinkles, sagging etc. This is what they do. This thread seems to regard this as something to be avoided at all costs, maybe that is where we are going wrong.

Keeping our bodies healthy as far as possible seems sensible. Regarding wrinkles as “bad” is just part of an ageist society.

@TokidokiBarbie
Maybe but they're not the only ones to say it!
Plus we're taking care of ourselves, them not so much unfortunately!

I agree to an extent but it's in our nature to find people less attractive as they age. Most people like to feel attractive.

This is the simple answer, IMO.

Objectively most older women look far better than men of an equivalent age.

The difference in perception is because women are being judged against different standards of physical appearance to men, which leads this objective reality to be scewed in many people's minds so that they think that the objectively less attractive men are more attractive than their female counterparts.

Societal misogyny and gender bullshit which we should all ignore. This is definitely one of those questions where it is appropriate to believe your own eyes.

No. It’s just that men are allowed to age and women aren’t, that’s all.

Balls sag as much as boobs

30 years hunched a desk and developing a bit of a beer belly takes it’s toll, it’s a rare man who has the body at 50 he had at 20.

You're asking the wrong question. Te very concept of asking if someone "ages worse" than another assumes that aging is a bad thing. People age, it's natural.

A great body without a head isn't attractive, or much use, so even if men can maintain a good body as they get older its not much use if they have a balding head and unattractive face. If we start swapping heads around we could all be stunners.

melanin will keep you looking younger

A woman and her twin daughters

Pure anecdata, but having been on dating apps since 2018, most men in their 40s are not attractive - balding, shit teeth, bad skin. I’ve met a few v attractive men, but then their personalities weren’t endearing.

If you look at my husbands friendship group where you look at all the husbands and wives. The husbands have known each other since school and the wives for almost twenty years now…

We are a walking advert for the differences in ageing and double standards - the women have all aged so much better.

I think men over estimate how important power/money/success are to women which is why so many men get fat. Obviously they can't control baldness and other signs of ageing! They see famous rich old men with models and they think looks don't matter. So if they attempt to appeal to much younger women they present themselves as wealthy. Sometimes even fake being wealthy.
No wonder men don't want women to earn the same and don't want gov funded child care et cetera.

I think that some women have such a low bar for men in general that they are willing to overlook much unattractiveness in appearance and personality and elevate their mediocrity. So a man who is any better than repellent can be deemed 'attractive'.
Couple this with the tendancy of some women to project their own fear and hatred of aging onto other women, and deliberately hone in on their flaws, and it results in a skewed perception of the relative attractiveness of men and women.