Why is it, when a woman points out another woman and says ‘she’s so pretty’, I rarely agree? Is this a common phenomenon? If so, what are the men seeing that the women aren’t? Discuss.
(The knee-jerk response here is that men like the big-breasted blondes, while women have more subtle (and, I might add, objective) tastes. That’s certainly not true for me, as my freebie list attests.)
Perhaps a woman can appreciate the subtle nature of beauty, such as: the turn of a head, the stride of a leg, the cadence of a laugh, and the sprinkle of red through dark hair. Or perhaps she is just testing, and afraid you’ll agree, she picks a less attractive woman? My mother used to constantly point out different women and ask: “Am I that fat”? When I learnt to respond: “Yes, actually bigger.” She stopped asking. Not that that really helps in this situation…
I believe the correct response, if you want to be cynical about it is, “yes, but you’re prettier.”
Certainly not, “yeah.. I’d do her.”
Call me Captain Obvious! :)
I get the same thing too, and I’m not really into the buxom blondes either. I always thought it was because I have unique tastes, or it could be that some women appreciate beauty based on what those fashion mags say more than men. Dunno, I’m with you on being confused on that one, mate.
Darren, your list is full of uber-hotties with incredible bodies. They are not unattractive in the least. They are the thinking man’s Pamela & Britney’s. They are gorgeous, luscious sasspots. They also sexy minds too, (or are just publicly wear the glossy enamel of strong intelligent women) which makes them all the more lovely.
I think I find more women are prettier than the average man may. I find it easy to see beauty. Is this a feminine trait? I do not really know. It does fit into the theme of nurturing that many ‘female’ traits come from/go to.
Heather I think I’m a bit “softer” on what girls look like than some of my male friends are, and I tend to pick out individual features as being pretty as opposed to looking as a whole; I’ll say “she has nice hair” or something like that.
Much as it’s considered a male cliche, most of the women that I know that have ever made comments about the appearances of another women… seem breast obsessed!
This is very odd to me, because breasts are not something that usually makes a difference either way to what I consider ‘beautiful’.
i was typing too much so i posted about this…
I guess some part of it has to do with jealousy. Women, much more so than men, tend to not just look at a woman but immideately compare themselves with that woman. So they would rarely come up with a woman men are possibly going to find more attractive physically. (yes, I made that up but I think there is a point in there).
Also, women seem to be able to judge other people’s beauty on a non-sexual basis. Women seem capable of seeing the beauty in another women without even considering they might be lesbians. Ask the average man to point out a guy he thinks is beautiful and he will stare at you and tell you ‘he is not like that’. So maybe that is why they would like different women: Men look in a more sexual way. (Yet again I made that up and yet again it sounds plausibe. I could be the next Freud. He made it all up and related it to sex.)
I have had this conversation with my male friends before. I think it’s a combination of things. 1-Women tend to notice a feature and call it pretty, like Heather said before. 2-It depends on what you like, meaning what you think is ‘pretty’. If you ask the opinion of women who happen to think your ‘freebies’ are gorgeous, you might have more matches. 3-Women relate so much to personality as part of beauty. A lot of girls I know think Julia Roberts is pretty, in large part because of her personality. She’s witty and laughs out loud and whatnot. My guy friends say she has big teeth and looks like a horse. Go figure.
PS-I just found your blog. Very entertaining. I’ll check back soon.
Ms. Misanthrope I remember a survey that revealed the interesting fact that women said men would find pretty a woman who was skinnier than men themselves said they would find attractive.
Some individuals I know have argued that men grade pass/fail (or “doable/not doable”), and women grade on a curve.
