Men With Guitars Simultaneously Repulsive and Attractive (but Mainly Attractive)
LatestRemember that ridiculously cheesy bro in your dorm who hummed and strummed Closer to Fine and your brain barfed but your loins went SCHWING? Your head might’ve said HELL NO, but your heart laid out the welcome mat to your pants. Turns out, you’re most likely a sucker for a man with a song in his heart and an acoustic guitar in his hands because you want to populate the planet with mini John Mayers. Yay!
In a recent French study, which showed similar findings to an Israeli study last year, women go nuts for a music man.
One sunny Saturday afternoon, in the shopping district of a medium-sized French city, this good-looking guy approached 300 young women (aged approximately 18 to 22). He introduced himself, declared “I think you’re really pretty,” and asked for her phone number so they could arrange to have a drink. For one-third of these brief encounters, he was carrying what was clearly a guitar case. For another third, he was holding a sports bag; for the final third, he was empty-handed.
The implication that he was a musician dramatically increased the actor’s appeal. When he was carrying the guitar case, 31 percent of the women gave him their number. This compares with nine percent when he was carrying the sports bag, and 14 percent when he was carrying nothing.
Researchers don’t know exactly why Ladies Love Cool James (et al.). There are the theories that music sprung from early dating rituals and we’re powerless against these ingrained mating practices, or that a man’s musical skills are indicative of physical and intellectual prowesses that women go crazy for.
Or maybe it goes even deeper?
Perhaps the most intriguing explanation was given by researchers Vanessa Sluming and John Manning in a much-discussed paper published in 2000. They provided preliminary evidence of a link between musical prowess and prenatal exposure to testosterone. “Testosterone enhances the growth of the right hemisphere, and may facilitate musical ability,” they write. “If it does so, musical ability then is a signal for male fertilizing ability.”
It always comes back to keeping the species alive, doesn’t it? Viva la romance!
[PS Mag]