posted March 26, 2008 03:03 AM         

Men are subconsciously attracted to fairer skin, while women are attracted to darker complexions. Read on to know the interesting reasons behind this


Have you ever wondered why men are attracted to fair-complexioned females while women prefer the dark and brooding types? Well, the attraction is driven by preferences based on moral assumptions, says a study. Researchers have found that men are subconsciously attracted to fairer skin due to its association with purity, innocence, modesty and goodness, while women feel that darker complexions are associated with sex, virility and danger.

"What the research shows is that our aesthetic preferences operate to reflect moral preferences. Within our cultures, we have a set of ideals about how women should look and behave. Lightness and darkness have particular meanings attached to them and we subconsciously relate those moral preferences to women," the study's lead author Dr Shyon Baumann of Toronto University said.

The researchers came to this conclusion after they analysed over 2,000 advertising photographs of men and women. They found that the skin of white women was 15.2 per cent lighter than the skin of white males while the skin of black women 11.1 per cent was lighter than the skin of black men.

According to the researchers, many judgements about beauty are made at a conscious level, such as about leg length, height, weight and the shape of the nose as well as the mouth.
"In contrast, other physical attractiveness ideals, including complexion are made at the subconscious level," the study says.

When the researchers analysed adverts featuring white women only, they found that females with darkest complexions were more likely to be in an advanced state of undress. They were also more likely to have a bared midriff and only they are shown with bared feet or are implied to be totally nude.

The darkest-complexioned women in this group were also likely to be provocatively dressed, wearing underwear or similar clothing. Women with the lightest complexion are more likely to be conservatively dressed and portrayed as friendly, happy and honest.

According to the researchers, the scale of the differences between male and female skin colour selected for their attractiveness is too big to be explained by pure biology.

posted March 26, 2008 11:52 AM         

All I can say is that I bought a high factor sun block for my kids when they were babies ~ we lived by the seaside. As it turned out, it wasn't really needed, they are as pigmented as their father and are too dark too burn. It made me wonder if that was part of the biological urge to procreate with this particular person. His attractive nose was one of the other strong reasons, I was very glad when the children inherited his looks, particularly this facial feature. Not that I thought about it at the time, just afterwards.

Sound stupid? Well, you haven't seen my nose, or the amount of sunblock I have to smear over my celtic bluey-white skin as soon as the most feeble amount of Sun filters through the clouds.

posted March 26, 2008 07:14 PM         

I have always said that is why I married my first husband (father of my children)
I said that I felt a strange genetic pull.

He was darker skinned and like you I have a single melanin cell that tries (unsuccessfully) to service my whole body.

Plus all his family lived well into their 80-90,s and mine all popped their clogs in their 50's.
I like to feel I supplied the intelligence gene. Me the brain, him the brawn!!