Why Do Men Choose Beauty Over Brains?
Last Friday, I read a story published in The Mirror, the general gist of the article was that men may say they prefer brains over boobs but they ‘feel threatened by intelligent women‘. Apparently new research has found that men are less likely to date a woman that performs better than them and they will rate her less attractive as a consequence of her intelligence.
Later that evening I asked my husband, “Do you think you are more intelligent than I am?” and without hesitation he replied with a smile, “Yes.”
Slightly bewildered and shocked, I asked him why. He replied with a long list of all the reasons why he considered himself cleverer than I am which included maths, science, technology, orientation, grammar, cooking and, well, pretty much everything else in between.
I bit my tongue and vowed not to bring up the fact that he can’t find his sodding pants without asking me where they are every morning.
When he met me, I was, and still am, a successful businesswoman who owns her own company. If the article is to be believed, then my intelligence was clearly not a deterrent. For this, I guess I must credit my husband with having more intelligence than to feel threatened.
The discussion intrigued me though and I couldn’t let sleeping dogs lie. So I decided to test the theory on a couple of friends that I had invited round that evening.
Both women are very attractive, with great jobs and husbands with very different personalities, the perfect test audience.
So as I opened a bottle of wine, I asked what they thought of the subject that seemed to cause so much controversy in the media that day. It seemed we were divided.
One of the lovely ladies was horrified at the thought that her husband might consider himself more intelligent than her. I asked her to show the article to her husband to get his take on it, much to her despair, he agreed that most men would opt for boobs over brains.
Is this because most men feel that they have enough intelligence for the both? Or simply that these men see a beautiful woman as a status symbol, a human version of a Porsche 911 and a reflection of their own success in life?
My other friend said that although she thinks her husband is more intelligent, she uses her own intelligence in a completely different way to get what she wants.
She confessed that earlier in the week, a client walked into her office ready for confrontation, she was able to diffuse the situation immediately, using her feminine ways (and intelligence).
“With a big smile, the toss of my blonde hair, laughing at his jokes and the slightest touch of his arm, he was like putty in my hands.”
She knew what she was doing and worked to her strengths, (and of course his weakness – a pretty face).
Now who is more intelligent in that situation?
The result at half time – Men nil, Boobs 1.
But what do women look for in a man?
Again my friends were polled and the clichéd “good sense of humour” was top of the leader board, however “intelligence” was a close second and I was interested to find that attractiveness, although making the top 5, was further down the priority list for the women.
When considering my own wish list of perfect attributes in a partner, intelligence was definitely what I found most attractive in a man.
I wish I could say humour but I’ve been laughed into bed before now and woken up to someone that looked just like David Jason’s character in A Touch of Frost and hot footed it out of there. So does that make me as equally shallow? Why wasn’t this hilarious and very caring guy enough for me, since he was clearly intelligent enough to play to his strengths and get me swinging from chandeliers quicker than you can say “An Englishman, Irishman and Welshman walked into a bar…”.
Layla nil : Hypocrisy 1
Marilyn Monroe carved her legacy as the ultimate dumb blonde and yet this brunette girl next door turned blonde bombshell was anything but dumb. She was smart enough not to let her intelligence shroud her shrewdness (or her boobs) to get what she wanted.
So when reading this article, are we more offended that this is another discussion about equality and why can’t men see past the boobs? And if so, perhaps we should just chill out and think about one of Marilyn Monroe’s greatest quotes,
“Women who seek to be equal with men, lack ambition.” – Marilyn Monroe
Boobs and intelligence 1: Who really gives a shit, nil
Note from the Editor: Many thanks again to Layla Black for her contributions to The Glass House Girls. To read more from Layla Black, you can check out her page here.
