Tall, dark and handsome were once the go-to features used to describe the perfect man, but the archetype has since lost its legitimacy as people’s tastes change from generation to generation. (Think about it, women used to find David Cassidy attractive.) According to a variety of recent research (all from 2013), the man I am about to describe is the man that women want, the man women envision when reading their favourite romance novels or watching raunchy POV porn. So, if you want to be that guy, bring up a Word doc, or an actual notepad, and take notes.
Sport some stubble
Despite numerous studies stating otherwise, ladies love them some facial hair. How much facial hair, however, is crucial. A study from the University of New South Wales, and published in Evolution and Human Behavior, found that women—when looking at a series of smiling faces with varying facial hair growth—rated 10-day stubble most attractive while clean-shaven was the least; 5-day stubble wasn’t popular either (participants perceived it as “patchy”) and a full-grown beard was just too much.
Get into music
This will come as a shock to no one, but chicks dig musicians. More specifically, they dig guitar players. A study published in the Psychology of Music journal concluded this after sending a 20-year-old man to a mall. He was tasked with approaching women ages 18-22 (how he was to determine their age, I don’t know) at random, compliment them and then ask for their number. The variable in this experiment were the items the young man would carry. When carrying a guitar case, 31% of women gave him their number; only 9% spared their numbers when the man carried a gym bag—which was even less than when the man was carrying nothing at all. Sorry bros!
Be both tall & hung
Women like their men big, both in stature and below the belt. A study in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science found that the size of a man’s member had a huge influence on their attractiveness, and were found even more attractive if the man was tall. The study asked 105 women to look at video clips of naked men of different sizes and rate them on “total sexual attractiveness” on a scale from 1-7. The study concluded that height is just as important to women as his penis size.
Have a sense of humour
If you’re funny, you’re a likely candidate for a one-night stand, according to a study published by the British Psychological Society. The study asked 40 psychology students which two items they’d take to a desert island and why, choosing from chocolate, hairspray or a plastic bag. Nearly half of the students’ answers used humour over logic, and these people were labeled “actors”. The study concluded that men, namely “actors”, use humour to show off their smarts, and scored higher for short-term flings since it conveys an unwillingness to invest in a full-time partner.
