In the Wall Street Journal, Jena Pincott tries to answer Freud’s famous question — “What do women want?” — and comes up with a surprising answer: in developed countries, they want men who look more like women:

Why Women Don’t Want Macho Men

New research suggests that women from countries with healthier populations prefer more feminine-looking men.

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… After crunching the data—including the women’s facial preferences, their country of origin and that country’s national health index—the Face Lab researchers proved something remarkable. They could predict how masculine a woman likes her men based on her nation’s World Health Organization statistics for mortality rates, life expectancy and the impact of communicable disease. In countries where poor health is particularly a threat to survival, women leaned toward “manlier” men. That is, they preferred their males to have shorter, broader faces and stronger eyebrows, cheekbones and jaw lines. 

But what does health have to do with masculinity? The link is testosterone, the hormone behind manly muscles, strong jaws, prominent eyebrow ridges, facial hair and deep voices. Testosterone is immunosuppressive. This means a man must be healthy and in good condition to withstand its effects on his development. Testosterone is also linked to other traits related to strength: fitness, fertility and dominance… Masculinity, however, can come at a high price. Women often think of high-testosterone types as uncooperative, unsympathetic, philandering, aggressive and disinterested in parenting.

The theory is that in countries with good health-care — here we go! — women have to worry less about the longevity and overall health of their mates, and therefore can afford to ease up in the testosterone department in favor of the more metrosexual types:

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In the Face Lab study, women with the weakest masculinity preferences tended to live in some of the healthiest countries: Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Austria… Meanwhile, women with the strongest masculinity preferences tended to hail from the countries with higher disease and mortality rates and some of the poorest scores on the health-care index: Mexico, Brazil, Bulgaria and Argentina.

As we approach Easter, this video homage to one of history’s great metrosexuals, as portrayed by the inimitable Jay Robinson:


That would be Caligula, of course. For those who can’t get enough:


Your thoughts welcome here.