Women, it turns out, don’t like men who are covered in hair. Scientific research has confirmed our already-present suspicions. — Click to Tweet.
Although this may not seem like breaking news to you, there are probably some people that got left out of the loop. And that’s why scientific research is important.
With this particular study, it was found that only about 20 percent of women preferred the men with hairy chests. The rest preferred a clean-shaven, smooth-skinned chest.
The study was conducted by taking neck-down photographs of several different men with hairy chests, and then photographing those same men after having shaved their chests. This process helped make sure the appearance of the chests remained consistent.
The Original Hypothesis
At first, the scientists expected this preference for hairless men to be based on evolutionary guidance. Hairy men are more likely to carry parasites like lice near their skin, and it was suggested that women were selecting for men who were less likely to be parasite infested.
But the study was designed to test this correlation to see if it existed. About half of the women queried were from Turkey, a country with high rates of malaria and dengue fever. The other half were from Slovakia, where parasite-related diseases are much less frequent. It was expected that women from Turkey would be even more apt to dislike hairy men, as they would perceive a greater parasite-related danger.
Ultimately though, the results revealed exactly why these kind of ad-hoc evolutionary hypotheses must be tested. There was no correlation between parasite levels and hair preference: women from both countries disliked the hairy men.
Another Explanation?
Science doesn’t really have another explanation so far. But it has been observed that certain regions, such as the African nation of Cameroon, prefer hairier men. Other regions, such as China, New Zealand, and California lean toward the bare-skinned men.
More studies would have to be done to confirm any hypotheses, but it’s likely that regional preferences are more related to culture than biological factors.
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