By Kristen Oliveri
Many questions plague the female populace in an attempt to understand the opposite sex: Are men really focused on a woman with a perfect body, flawless features and the best fashion sense? Do they prefer a woman to dress in tight clothing with stilettos or do they appreciate the natural beauty of a woman in sweats?
Some women become obsessed with what they believe men want and, in turn, this effects the way some women present themselves to society. The age-old question still remains: Are looks the only thing that matter?
“I feel it’s a combination of both physical appearance and a good personality, for me. Obviously the first thing one sees is a person’s face. As good looking as one may be, you don’t want to date a complete ditz,” said Thomas Chen, a sophomore journalism major. “Personality becomes the most important thing.”
When asking around Northeastern, many men seemed to share Chen’s views. They believe a healthy balance between a good looking woman and a self-confident one makes for the most approachable person.
“Beauty doesn’t have to be the ‘sticking point.’ It helps to see a woman make an effort on her appearance. But if a woman has to dress scantily to get a man’s attention, that’s saying a lot about who she is,” Chen said.
Maya A. Poran, a psychologist and professor of women’s studies at Montclair State University, understands how much women are affected by what men think about their physical appearance.
“The beauty standard holds much more importance for women than for men. It has been consistently found that women tend to focus on appearance more than men do and women tend to view their bodies as objects, perceiving themselves on a part-by-part basis,” Poran said.
Some men do recognize physical attraction can be a main focus when looking to potentially date someone.
“In looking at women, aesthetics is key. You can’t date what you’re not attracted to,” said P.J. Miles, a sophomore architecture major.
When asked about what makes a woman most desirable, Miles said, “In looking to date someone though, you look for personality. Your average girl with the cutest personality is way hotter than the hot chick that’s like talking to a rock.”
Miles also said he believes it’s clothing may be a contributing factor leading to attraction, but not all that matters.
“As far as clothing goes, there’s a time and place for every outfit and the girl that walks around knowing she’s hot stuff with her million dollar bag and designer outfits on all the time may turn heads and spur conversation, but would you want to date that?”
According to Last Story (www.laststory.com), an online entertainment Web site that includes editorials, opinion pieces and other articles, men look for a few basic attributes in a woman’s appearance.
“First of all, you need to look good. You don’t need to be a supermodel and you don’t need to be ultra-thin. In fact, most guys don’t like these bony women who waltz up and down the catwalk,” said an article by Last Story on Feb. 22.
According to the BBC News Web site, many women do feel they need to play into a certain body image to make themselves attractive to the opposite sex.
“Young women are vulnerable to the pressure to conform to an ideal. Worrying about their weight and dieting is commonplace among young women, resulting in low self-esteem,” as stated in the Young Women’s Christian Association’s manifesto, according to an April 2001 article on the BBC News Web site (www.news.bbc.co.uk).
Even men have admitted women become fixated on how they look.
“I don’t really know what goes on inside the head of a woman, don’t really know if I want to, but to those girls who have to get up hours before their 8 a.m. class to do their hair and makeup: 90 percent of the school is half asleep anyway and probably won’t notice,” Miles said.
