Comments on: Male Physical Attractiveness Part II: Chicks Dig Scars

By: Ultimate Man’s Guide To Maximizing Your Looks Potential (Contribution by David K)

Sat, 29 Mar 2014 21:22:01 +0000

[…] Male Physical Attractiveness Part II: Chicks Dig Scars – Part two of the article above. As it should be obvious, this one discusses scaring and its impact on male attractiveness for short and long term relationships. […]

By: Luke Shanahan

Luke Shanahan — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 06:49:44 +0000

That's right on, Meredith. Harrison Ford's a great example—he's got the scar AND a crooked nose! These features play against the wonderful dynamic symmetry of his face, which serves to accentuate his perfect dynamic symmetry. The imperfections act as a kind of foil; Call it, "Perfect with a twist."

Another good example would be the mole found on the left cheeks of the faces of Cindy Crawford and Marilyn Monroe. And it does exactly what you said: it takes away the "uncanny" look of a perfect face. Of course, it all boils down to genes, what the "selfish gene" wants. The perfect features indicate great genes. The imperfection implies humanity, something that comes in handy when it comes to the loving art of raising children.

Sounds like you've got a smart bunch of Facebook friends. Thanks for reading our book! LS

By: meredith

meredith — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 16:50:23 +0000

In my facebook group we read Deep Nutrition which goes into facial symmetry and Marquardt's mask and all. We pretty much unanimously decided that a scar, an off center nose, an eye that is a little more blinky than the other are all kinda hot. A too perfect face gives us an "uncanny feeling" – like what Freud said about wax statues.

By: soahc

soahc — Thu, 19 May 2011 05:47:11 +0000

Hmnnn…I think that altruism requires the utmost heroics. How attracted would chicks be to a guy who leaps into a burning building to rescue a puppy, and emerges with the puppy shielded in his jacket and burns on his face? To fully embrace altruism necessitates disregard for self safety. Best of both worlds.

By: Franco

Franco — Mon, 16 May 2011 06:24:37 +0000

I have an asymmetrical nose (very visible) which is long to boot! And it wasn't even from a fight. Just a genetical thing – 2 uncles and my grandfather have/had it.
But still there are enough girls who either don't mind or are actively turned on by it. For whatever reason.
Your beard might be a bigger problem… 😉

By: Quinlan

Quinlan — Sun, 15 May 2011 22:38:02 +0000

I wonder if a well healed scar isn’t also a marker for a robust immune system, I assume before modern medicine wounds would often become easily infected and result in death or disease. So having a nice clean scar would be proof of a strong immune system.

By: Bennett

Bennett — Sat, 14 May 2011 20:07:32 +0000

Heh, maybe the scarring is attractive because it shows that you got out of a scrape with only superficial wounds, whereas a broken nose or other 'deeper' injury suggests that you didn't get off so light. In the long term, that might signal that you're prone to getting in over your head in fights. Totally speculative and half-baked, but it might be something. Or, possibly, the eye just can't discern between a badly set nose and a badly created one.

If it makes ya feel any better, I know plenty of girls who (anecdotally) find the whole crooked nose thing attractive in a rugged way. As long as you got it while boxing, not from a 13 year old with a snowball. Maybe it's the story that counts.

By: Mike Fout

Mike Fout — Fri, 13 May 2011 18:23:42 +0000

This article was a huge ego booster for me. Score one for the tattooed rescue swimmer!

Seriously, as anecdotal experience, tattoos are like fishhooks for the ladies, but the glamor must wear off pretty quickly. In my past experiences the women that followed through were usually bat-shit crazy or intimidated. The long-term strategy worked out for my wife, but I attribute that more to compatible personalities than aesthetics. However, my tattoos were definitely an ice breaker.

By: Neill

Neill — Fri, 13 May 2011 17:31:17 +0000

In reply to Andrew.

Maybe it's down to the positive experiences you've had with tattooed women in the past?

Certain 'impulsive' behaviours are correlated; drinking, smoking, drug taking, tattoos… 'casual' sex.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 13 May 2011 17:07:26 +0000

In reply to Peggy.

Hard to say. According to this study… "Men’s ratings of female attractiveness were unaffected by scarring."

Unless there's some hidden evolutionary advantage (or exapted bias of some sort) to such extreme body mods, we pretty much have to write them off as cultural differences.

I find it interesting that tattoos and scars are so often mentioned in tandem in this context. Tattoos signal something different (or in a very different way) than scars. Of course, I'm referring to non-intentional/non-decorative scars here. The ritualized modifications seem to be more involved with in-group social psychology than conveying a bravery signal. Science hasn't yet explained to me why I find tattoos on women particularly sexy, but am totally creeped out by 8" lip plates.