Over the last couple of years, the terms masculine and feminine have exploded in popularity. Telling you as a man you need to be more masculine and find a more feminine woman, which sounds nice to say but is it true?

What is masculinity?

To answer the question “should you try and be more masculine?”, you must first understand what makes someone masculine or feminine.

A masculine person(man or woman) is someone who possesses a lot of masculine traits and few feminine ones. A masculine trait is a trait that is inherently sexually dimorphic to men.

What does sexually dimorphic mean? It means more common or pronounced in one sex than the other. For example, being tall is a masculine trait because men are on average taller than women.

Which Traits are Masculine?

Here’s a short list of masculine traits most relevant to your day-to-day life.

Masculine Traits

Physical

• Height

• Strength

• Low Bodyfat%

• Broad Shoulders

• Narrow Hips

• Facial Masculinity(wide jaw, prominent brow ridge, thin lips, etc.)

• Hair loss

Personality

• Low Trait Agreeableness

• Low Trait Neuroticism

• Interest in Things over People

These are the most prominent sexually dimorphic traits that aren’t exclusive to men(all men have a penis and no women do).

Is Masculinity Attractive?

The answer is… it depends (I bet you saw that coming). Certain masculine traits are broadly considered attractive while others are considered neutral or even unattractive.

Starting with the physical traits, most physical masculine traits are broadly considered attractive. Outside of Hair loss, all of the physical traits listed in the section above have at least a small correlation with physical attractiveness.

Broad shoulders, narrow hips, strength, and height had the largest correlation coefficients with attractiveness, showing bodily masculinity is more important than facial masculinity.

Masculine personality traits seem to have a different relationship with attractiveness. Of the 3 distinct differences between men's and women’s personalities on average, they each have a different relationship with attractiveness.

Trait agreeableness which breaks down into compassion and politeness is a feminine trait(The mean percentile of women among the general population is 60th Percentile). Despite being feminine it’s actually an attractive trait for men to have. Low agreeableness does correlate with income, so it does come with its upside.

Trait neuroticism which breaks down into volatility and withdrawal, represents one’s sensitivity to negative emotion and is a feminine trait(The mean percentile of women among the general population is 60th Percentile). This is the trait responsible for the emotional reactivity and sensitivity women are stereotyped as. Unsurprisingly, trait neuroticism unlike trait agreeableness, is seen as unattractive in men.

Interest in things vs people is the biggest difference between men and women from a social science standpoint and does not affect attractiveness, whether you swing masculine or feminine.

Summary

In summary, masculinity is generally seen as attractive in men, but not always.

As far as whether you should try to become more masculine, from a physique perspective, definitively yes, from a personality perspective, not really.

“Just be yourself” is a little redundant advice but it holds true. Perform healthy habits such as exercise, sleep, and healthy eating which have been proven to improve your attractiveness and even reduce trait neuroticism. Outside of that you just need to focus on meeting more women and getting out there to find your perfect partner.

Hope this was insightful and I’ll see you next Thursday.

Sources:

1. Stulp, G., Buunk, A. P., Pollet, T. V., Nettle, D., & Verhulst, S. (2013). Are human mating preferences with respect to height reflected in actual pairings? PLoS ONE, 8(1), e54186. This study discusses general preferences for height, showing that taller men are generally preferred, with an estimated moderate correlation with attractiveness. Available openly on PLoS ONE.

2. Sell, A., Lukaszewski, A. W., & Townesend, J. (2017). Cues of upper body strength account for most of the variance in men’s bodily attractiveness. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 284(1869), 20171819. This study found that physical strength had a high correlation with attractiveness in men. Available openly on Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

3. Dixson, B. J., Grimshaw, G. M., Linklater, W. L., & Dixson, A. F. (2011). Eye-tracking men’s preferences for waist-to-hip ratio and breast size of women and their associations with masculinity and body composition. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40(1), 43-50. Although focused on women’s physical features, this study indirectly supports the attractiveness of low body fat percentage in men, as body composition plays a significant role. Available on Springer Link.

4. Wood, D., & Brumbaugh, C. C. (2009). Romantic relationship preferences and their links to different forms of couple well-being. Journal of Research in Personality, 43(4), 501-514.

5. Jokela, M. (2009). Personality predicts migration within and between U.S. states. Journal of Research in Personality, 43(1), 79-83.

6. Botwin, M. D., Buss, D. M., & Shackelford, T. K. (1997). Personality and mate preferences: Five factors in mate selection and marital satisfaction. Journal of Personality, 65(1), 107-136. This study examines how personality traits influence mate selection and attraction preferences. Available on Wiley Online Library.

7. Li, N. P., Bailey, J. M., Kenrick, D. T., & Linsenmeier, J. A. W. (2002). The necessities and luxuries of mate preferences: Testing the trade-offs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(6), 947–955. This article discusses broader preferences related to career orientation and its indirect impact on attractiveness. Available on APA PsycNet.