I haven't heard the thing about blondes looking younger.

I have heard that overall people associate blondeness and light coloring with femininity, while dark hair and dark coloring is associated with masculinity.  Which could help explain why many men like blondes, I suppose.

It is my observation that I think very average-looking blonde women have an easier time meeting men than very average-looking non-blonde women, but hey I haven't done a careful study or anything...

I do agree that I've heard a lot of men describe their perfect woman as short, as well.  Although I wouldn't be surprised if this varies some depending on where you live...

I tend to prefer dark hair on both sexes, personally

I have always been successful with very long hair dyed jet black (then, because my skin is fair, I lie and say its naturally that dark and I'm probably Black Irish or some manner of gypsy).  I think dramatic attributes are appealing, and men really love FAKE COLORS.  Natural blonds and redheads get much less attention than those sporting bottle shades.  Men will be ridiculous and claim they prefer women with no make-up and natural beauty, but my dear model friend, perfectly symmetrical and unadorned, never turned a head when we were out.  The men who really do prefer a fresh face and unhampered tresses are creeps who will force you to carry bulk burlap sacks of grain and all vacations are camping.

It's the ready-made image, if you will, that makes guys lean toward blonds. By ready-made I mean: "Hey, so whats your new girlfriend like" --"Shes blond, blue eyed, and..."

"WOW, what a catch!" That is, blonds make a lazy "good catch" for men. Of course these guys are almost always your quintessential Babbitt. Oh, and yes,short is perfect if he is also short and insecure. I am short guy, but oh mamma me wanty a long legged pony!

I actually do think there is a certain premium placed on short. Not squat, but petite. Otherwise, I completely agree with you, Airhead.  Blaming your lack of success with the opposite sex on not being some "perfect" archetype is a stupid way to deflect responsibility for yourself. Just look around and you will see plenty of women of all different types and pigmentations who are successfully dating good guys. Are there guys who are into the classic blonde, blue-eyed types? Yes, just like there are women who are into the blonde, pretty boy look. More power to them. Those of us who don't fit these descriptions can just date the legions of people that like other looks.  (There are also, you know, other factors in attraction...) There are a lot of people and a lot of different tastes out there.  I honestly don't particularly see any one "type" getting favored more than others unless it's the not-a-self-pitying-insecure-whiner type.

Dvaliery, I assume you were kidding around, but I still must disagree with you and stand up for those of us whose carpets match the drapes. If you like you're look and men you find desirable like it too, good for you.  But I must say that we natural redheads have a following as well (I've noticed that a lot of guys find it a big turn-on that my red hair is natural.)  I also rarely wear make-up and the guys I date aren't a bunch of crunchy weirdos.  

First off: Oh, Marilyn. Thanks for that photo, AHG.

Being a brunette bi girl myself... I'm a little lost, or maybe just naive. It never occurred to me to hate on blonde girls. And though I'm not going to pretend like blond hair isn't attractive, and in abstract TV/movie-land I can totally get into it (see above re: Ms. Monroe), if a guy or girl who I know in real life is blond/e, I just have no interest. It's like blond flips my switch to off, so to speak. Basically, I'm weird, is probably all I'm getting at.

Well you of course know that Marilyn is not a natural blonde, right M?

images.teamsugar.com/.../mmyoung2.jpg

ooh. im a natural mousy blonde but always dyed it dark [went through a gothy phase]. I've been platinum blonde for a while and i will say, I notice a difference in the amount and type of attention I get. The girl is right, fucktards really do dig the blonde thing. Eww.

Yeah, Marilyn was a brunette but she did the right thing and bleached that nasty brown color right out!

Is it just me, or does Marilyn look like a chubby-thighed, mother-of-three looking chick who you wouldn't look twice at if you saw her on the beach in that suit?

Kow- It's just you. The suit and the body are conforming to the norms of the day for sensuality. MM was only, like, 5'2" and very zaftig. It seems (not having been alive in the 50s, myself, but having watched a LOT of old movies) that men wanted their women soft and curvy, nicely filling out the fuzzy angora sweaters and the pedal pushers. Today, there's so much focus on women being either prepubsecent or hard-bodied in shape that lots of this lovely plumpness is devalued (except lovable Kate Winslet and ScarJo, for example). Imagine if, every time ANY woman today (not just celebrities) had to wear her "fat jeans" or decided not to bare her midriff, everyone in her life spread rumors that she was pregnant. Or better yet, what if it happened to guys? That'd be fun, huh?

"...this lovely plumpness is devalued (except lovable Kate Winslet and ScarJo, for example)."

Shit, if that's all the "plumpness" that's tolerated, I am fucked. Or, technically, not.

i'm a natural blond/redhead, freckles and all.  rarely wear make up and i'm nearly 43.  and counter to Dvaliery assessment of my "type" i turn several heads every day.  

Toluca- to be honest, I'd forgotten about that. But it's not the hair... it's the hips. Mother of 3, my ass.

zeitgeisty, men ARE obsessed with hard bodies. They may enjoy fucking a girl who is zaftig but they won't necessarily want to be seen with one walking down the street.

A real man is proud to walk the streets with a zaftig.

You wily red-snatched bitches have put me in my place!    I was commenting on the queer sort of man who requires a Eden pure Daughter of Eve on his arm, but I never computed the freckle factor and manipulative ginger charms of fresh-scrubbed sluts.  Perhaps the uninformed natural girl fades into the background, but apparently a few copper-topped tramps are torturing the men of America wearing nothing but chapstick.  

loobetchka, that is soooo true. the other guys are just posers really. and yes zeit, I have noticed its more of a problem with Parisian boys. They want all women to look like vanessa paradis.

What people say they find attractive and what they are attracted to are often two different creatures altogether.  I do think the classic Hollywood blond look has long since passed.  If you look at the women in movies and on television now... the new sex symbols... there is a hell of a variety and it's much more reflective of real life.  

Personally, I can't lie and say I'm not superficial, but I probably have a broader range of what I consider beautiful than a lot of people too.  

Marilyn, by the way, was beautiful just the way she was.  I'm with Zeit though in that I never found her screen persona the slightest bit attractive.  

Overall though, whether blond or brunette or black, white, brown or any shade or size, it's really about comportment.  A big girl who carries herself nicely and dresses well will always get the nod from me.  I've no "type" or preference though.

dvaleriey - apology accepted

Who was the woman that bleached her bung for Jack Nicholson?  That's the strangest thing I've ever read in the paper.  Don't remember who it was though.  

recycled: Lara Flynn Boyle's anal bleaching was syncopated with Jack Nicholson's openness about no longer being propelled by his sexual impulses.  The final actions of a desperate woman.

Kate Winslet and Scarlet Johansson were both curvy earlier in their careers (Titanic, Ghost World). They have since succumbed to the Hollywood norm.

"As for men liking hard bodies, that's a total myth.. Only women and GAY men are obsessed with hard bodies.."

Some men do, some men don't.  Why do we always have to generalize?  Actually, wait, I know the answer to that and I've said it on here before... it's because of men's rampant homophobia that they're always trying to make themselves seem more "masculine" by calling everyone who doesn't like just what they like a fag.  (Coincidentally, I'm currently reading a scholarly book for fun that looks at the social behavior of high school boys and concludes the same thing)

I actually met a man who likes thin, muscular women (he likes curvy types too)... and he's not gay.  A bit odd, but also dead sexy, IMO.

I agree I never really "got" Marilyn Monroe either.  I agree she had a pretty unusually dramatic waist-to-hip ratio, but other than that she just looked very "ordinary" to me:

marilynmonroepages.com/airplanes.html

However, I would like to say as a woman whose one physical feature that strikes somewhat above-average in the "stereotypical western conceptions of femininity" department is the hips, I'm all for bringin' back the hips!

Ok, maybe not ScarJo curvy. Maybe I just meant boobies.. But still, WTF is it with the skinny kick? Seems like rounder (to an extent)= more fertile= more attractive.

As far as Marilyn goes, I've always thought she had a fantastic body, but her face always seemed unremarkable.  As for her roles, most were ridiculous, but nobody can deny that "Some Like It Hot" is an awesome movie.

And Scarlett IS curvy because that's just the way she is.  There are thin women who are curvy and heavier women who aren't.  It's true that you will lose your curves if you are UNDERweight, but, in general, curviness has much more to do with your body shape than your weight, although this isn't a popular opinion.

Zeit--bit of a generalization but, actually, I think you are largely right.  I've never met a man that's obsessed with musculature in a woman. It's definitely a standard among celebrities--they all have to work out and have rock-hard abs. So I think it's one of those things where women think that that's what men expect of them, and men just don't really care.

Dvaliery--lol!

Except, the thing is, I think some of you guys are creating unnecessary definitions/divisions/whatever...  A guy can appreciate hips, boobies, and full lips, and ALSO appreciate muscular legs or a muscular back (or whatever) and be attracted to women who have various combinations thereof.

I've known NUMEROUS men who prefer women who are in-shape and athletic.  (read: good muscle tone)  It doesn't mean they DON'T like other characteristics on those women that differentiate them from men (though it does perhaps mean they don't choose women exclusively based on boob size).  Feminine and muscular are NOT mutually exclusive.

"No men are attracted to 'muscular backs' if they are they're in the closet... No guy's look at women swimmers with their broad manly backs and go..MMMmMMMMmm I want some of that.. unless they're some sort of muscle fetishist."

You're WRONG Zeitgeisty, that's all there is to it.

Not all men have muscular backs.  Not all men are muscular by any stretch of the imagination.  Some women are attracted to some men who aren't muscular.  Men do not have a monopoly on muscle.

Women build muscle the same as men when they do physical activities.

You SO fit into that whole "homophobic" mold I mention above where you're desperate to establish your "superior" masculinity by putting down others.  Thing is, many or most men get over that at least by the time they're 25 or 30.

My dad and mom both workout everyday.  They both (somewhat shallowly) have made it clear they might leave each other if either one lost their muscle tone.  I know a guy who's really hot for Joan Jett, who's really ripped these days.

Not to mention, there are ENTIRE CULTURES where strength is actually a valued characteristic in women.  (as opposed to western culture, which tradiitonally liked to keep women locked indoors)

I'm sure you would admit plenty of men like perky butts and boobies, yes?  Well, having good muscle tone actually accentuates those characteristics.  Women who don't workout at all tend to be more saggy and shapeless... some of my female friends who are more muscular on the other hand have amazing hourglass figures.

zeitgeisty,

that picture you posted was a rather extreme amount of muscle.  There's lots of WOMEN who don't like that much muscle on a MAN.  You can have much smaller muscles than that and still be "muscular."

Here's an olympic swimmer who I bet is more muscular than you:

cdn-channels.netscape.com/.../1157348_10.jpg

She's a pretty woman and I bet even without the sizeable boobies lots of men would be happy to date her.  If you pick women apart and go, well, I find this and this and this attractive about you, but your muscular back totally isn't sexy, well, I feel sorry for you.  We take people as a whole.  Most of us are attracted to people as a whole.  I like some really muscular men, and some who aren't any more muscular than I am.  But when I really like someone, even most of the things I would have considered "flaws" in another become endearing...  I know the men I tend to like are considerably skinnier and less muscular than the men many other women like.  I've known women who prefer a man with a round belly, which I find revolting.  

Although I will say I have a theory that a lot of people are attracted to "difference" (although certainly not everyone is like that).  That is, I've known a lot of skinny guys (such as perhaps yourself) who like round, soft women.  And I've known heavier, flabbier guys, who are attracted to skinny, toned women.  There was a poll on here recently in Hooksexup confessions, and about half the guys said they DID find fashion models attractive.  How about to each their own?

Whoever wrote this seems as bitter as those they accuse of being so.  And yes, I admit I am. I'm currently in a friendship with another girl who is also a 9/10.  Personality and personable-wise, also similar.  Difference is, she's blonde.  Naturally, vividly, etc.  Also blue eyes.  Difference is, she gets 10 times more attention than I do at the bar.  I don't think it's  in my head, since it took me about 6 months to figure it out.  You'd think this would work to my advantage - she'd get the guys who like blondes and I'd get the ones who like brunettes.  No, apparently 90% of guys prefer blondes.  I'm not blaming all you blondes.  I blame myself for not sticking with brunette friends.  I got a lot more a** that way.