# Do Women Go Through a "Cute & Little" Phase? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 8, 2016, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-go-through-a-cute-little-phase/745558 "2016-02-08T21:00:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-go-through-a-cute-little-phase/745558/61 "2016-02-10T01:07:36Z")
> [@WF\_Tomba](#): > > There’s also no convincing reason to think that if elected, Clinton would do more to advance gender equality than Sanders would. > > The argument Clinton supporters _should_ be focusing on is electability. Sanders may be too far to the left on economics to win the general election, and a Republican president would be terrible for feminist causes. Unfortunately for HRC, electability isn’t just about left and right. It’s also about, for example, whether voters trust your judgment. I don’t know whether it’s unfortunate for her campaign that all these old Second Wave feminists are coming out and saying silly things, or good that we’re getting that out of the way now. But Bill’s former Secretary of State saying that one must vote for Hillary because of her sex does not make anybody in that camp look smart. :dubious: > [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I can picture a thoughtful strategic intelligent decision to support Sanders, if one feels that he better represents one’s interests than Hillary Clinton and even while recognizing that he has virtually no chance of securing the nomination. The longer he stays in the race, I could imagine, the more inclined Clinton will be to try to win his supporters to her side, i.e. she may incorporate some of his relatively leftist ideas. If Sanders gets _no_ support, Clinton could casually ignore him and his backers and just take them for granted. 🆒 As a strong Sanders leaner, I would be pretty happy to see HRC win nomination by 55%-45%, with the Democratic Party on notice that they need populists and (yes) socialists–not just Wall Street money, Boomer professionals, and little old ladies–to stay viable. Or, you know, there’s still some possibility that Bernie will win and the game become finding a way to pass something he can agree with without the party joining Republicans to impeach him. That’s not meant to be cautionary–it might actually get us some good progressive legislation! ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-go-through-a-cute-little-phase/745558/62 "2016-02-10T01:23:50Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Heck, I thought this thread was going to be about whether women go through a phase where they like small cute things, like in toys and such. And when I saw it connected to Sanders, I assumed there was going to be an argument that he was a cute old man, compared to how Clinton is more like a schoolmarm. You’re not the only one. ---
**Author:** ![LinusK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@LinusK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LinusK)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-go-through-a-cute-little-phase/745558/63 "2016-02-10T02:00:30Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I have no problem with the idea that younger women don’t face as much sexism and thus don’t value fighting it as much. What I don’t get is the connection to this and being “cute and little.” > > Yes, there are some women who use their small stature and physical attractiveness to their advantage when they are younger. But neither smaller women nor physically attractive women are a majority. So you’re talking about, at most, 25% of young women. I’d cut that in half, easily, based on the people I know. > > Heck, I thought this thread was going to be about whether women go through a phase where they like small cute things, like in toys and such. And when I saw it connected to Sanders, I assumed there was going to be an argument that he was a cute old man, compared to how Clinton is more like a schoolmarm. > > Not that younger women don’t know the trials of older women. “Cute and little,” is probably meant to suggest something else, I suspect. ---
**Author:** ![LinusK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@LinusK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LinusK)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-go-through-a-cute-little-phase/745558/64 "2016-02-10T02:03:42Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Younger women, while not necessarily all “attractive” in a conventional sense, are still more attractive than older ones. That grants them power that older women don’t have. > > I remember when I was a little bit younger and was thinking that I tended to find most women attractive. I didn’t even think about older women, as I just didn’t think about them. > > We as a society seem to forget about older women even existing. We avoid them in our media. We don’t really try to sell to them–beyond selling to homemakers. > > When you are basically invisible, it’s much harder to have any power. When at least the sexist men wish they could fuck you, you have a little more power. Do you have to be “sexist” to want to fuck attractive women? I always believed heterosexual men are born that way. ---
**Author:** ![LinusK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@LinusK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LinusK)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-go-through-a-cute-little-phase/745558/65 "2016-02-10T02:06:31Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > This is similar to what [Gloria Stienem just said on Bill Maher’s show](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scO9gIpR8BI). She claimed that men gain power as they age, and thus become more conservative, and that women lose power as they age, and so they tend to become more radical. And there is currently a wave of outrage that is spreading on social media about her claim that younger women are more likely to be Sanders supporters because “that’s where the boys are”, or something. Not quite accurate. It’s unmarried older women who tend to become like Gloria Steinem as they age. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-go-through-a-cute-little-phase/745558/66 "2016-02-10T02:13:20Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > tomato tomahto. > > Young confident women who are reasonably attractive can be more attractive by virtue of their confidence and charisma as well. The point is that the difference between how guys are treated is an order of magnitude less than how women are treated. Attractive women live in a different world in a way that attractive men do not. I don’t hear women standing around the water cooler talking about how Mr. So-and-So has really let himself go or how much he needs a make-over, or how if only he did X, Y, and Z to his physical appearance, everything would go so much better in his life. But I hear guys talk about women like this all the time. Women are guilty of doing it too. When I was younger, I put up with it because I wanted to be “cool”. But now I realize how unfair it is, how damaging it is. Guys are given so much more leeway in the “attractive” department than women are. A guy can have a beer belly, be unshaven, and dress like a slob and as long as he’s a “helluva guy”, people won’t care too much. But a woman is held to a much higher standard. If she’s a visual hot mess, she best be the smartest, niceness, funniest visual hot mess she can possibly be, or else every negative attribute in the world will be thrown her way. ---
**Author:** ![LinusK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@LinusK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LinusK)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-go-through-a-cute-little-phase/745558/67 "2016-02-10T02:27:47Z")
I’m watching the returns from NH. I realize, of course, that NH is just one little state, but some of the results are amazing. Sanders is killing with young voters, with independents, and even beating her among women - I guess a lot of NH women will be going to hell. Hillary has a special gift for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time… > [@](#): > > “Whereas the electorates in Iowa and New Hampshire are largely rural/suburban and predominantly white, the March states better reflect the true diversity of the Democratic Party and the nation.” Um, so what are you saying about white people, exactly? They don’t reflect the “true diversity” of the Democratic Party? Good luck with that message. ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-go-through-a-cute-little-phase/745558/68 "2016-02-10T03:00:06Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I don’t hear women standing around the water cooler talking about how Mr. So-and-So has really let himself go or how much he needs a make-over, or how if only he did X, Y, and Z to his physical appearance, everything would go so much better in his life. > > But I hear guys talk about women like this all the time. WTF? I’ve never heard other guys talk like that about women, ever. I don’t even know what a “makeover” exactly is and I’m sure most other guys don’t either. The nearest thing I ever hear is an occasional “didja see what she’s wearing today? go check it out, it’s hot” ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-go-through-a-cute-little-phase/745558/69 "2016-02-10T03:02:27Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Hillary claimed, afterwards, that it was said light-heartedly. And indeed, if you watch the video, everyone chuckled afterwards. But… I don’t get it. Is this some sort of inside joke that “womyn” just get but that men don’t? It didn’t seem at all funny to me-- it sounded obnoxious. The joke is that she’s saying she supports Clinton simply because she’s a woman, and not because of her experience, policy positions, personality, or a deep personal bond they formed when they both ritually murdered a hobo at the Bohemian Grove. It’s not a good joke, but there’s a reason Madeline Albright was Secretary of State, instead of headlining the Laugh Factory in Minneola. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-go-through-a-cute-little-phase/745558/70 "2016-02-10T03:34:12Z")
> [@LC\_Strawhouse](#): > > WTF? I’ve never heard other guys talk like that about women, ever. You must have missed [threads like this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=777747), then. ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-go-through-a-cute-little-phase/745558/71 "2016-02-10T04:16:51Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > You must have missed [threads like this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=777747), then. Hah- I’ve never heard anyone talk like that in person but I guess all bets are off when it comes to internet message boards. I never even open threads like that. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-go-through-a-cute-little-phase/745558/72 "2016-02-10T05:28:33Z")
Another thing about young women, I dont know if this is scientific but I swear they can give off pheromones when they are in their fertile stages that men pick up on. ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-go-through-a-cute-little-phase/745558/73 "2016-02-10T06:54:05Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Another thing about young women, I dont know if this is scientific but I swear they can give off pheromones when they are in their fertile stages that men pick up on. You realize a woman is typically fertile into her late 40’s, early 50’s, right? Even the ugly ones? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-go-through-a-cute-little-phase/745558/74 "2016-02-10T07:00:47Z")
> [@fisha](#): > > You realize a woman is typically fertile into her late 40’s, early 50’s, right? Even the ugly ones? “Fertile” as how defined? If the occasional one-in-a-thousand woman at age 52 manages to get pregnant while the other 999 women at age 52 can’t, that can’t truly be classified as “fertile.” ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-go-through-a-cute-little-phase/745558/75 "2016-02-10T07:14:38Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > “Fertile” as how defined? If the occasional one-in-a-thousand woman at age 52 manages to get pregnant while the other 999 women at age 52 can’t, that can’t truly be classified as “fertile.” The average age of the woman on her last kid is 41. At 45, you still have a 50% pregnancy rate. Anecdote is not data, but I personally know three women who had a surprise at 47. They weren’t even hot! As to pheromones, you guys realize even the 350# chick with the dark black chin and nipple hair has them, right? ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-go-through-a-cute-little-phase/745558/76 "2016-02-10T07:25:04Z")
> [@LinusK](#): > > Not quite accurate. It’s unmarried older women who tend to become like Gloria Steinem as they age. Burn the witch! I’m pretty sure rabid feminism is a young woman’s game. Old dried up crones are into antiques, cats and lesbians This thread is terrible. ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-go-through-a-cute-little-phase/745558/77 "2016-02-10T07:30:59Z")
> [@LinusK](#): > > “Cute and little,” is probably meant to suggest something else, I suspect. Don’t be coy, what do you mean? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-go-through-a-cute-little-phase/745558/78 "2016-02-10T08:24:13Z")
> [@LinusK](#): > > Do you have to be “sexist” to want to fuck attractive women? > > I always believed heterosexual men are born that way. No, but I never that. I said that even sexist men will grant power to women they want to fuck. Even if you think women are inferior, the fact that they have something you want will inevitably mean you cede power to them. Your post comes across as a convenient way to take one comment in isolation and thus ignore the bigger picture of what was said. Younger women have more power because more men want to fuck them. That’s the answer to the question you asked. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-go-through-a-cute-little-phase/745558/79 "2016-02-10T08:30:28Z")
> [@fisha](#): > > As to pheromones, you guys realize even the 350# chick with the dark black chin and nipple hair has them, right? I believe no pheromones have been detected in the human species. Human females do however send out other signals when they’re ovulating, specifically meant to attract males. ---
**Author:** ![Anarcho\_Liberalist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Anarcho\_Liberalist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anarcho_Liberalist)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-go-through-a-cute-little-phase/745558/80 "2016-02-10T09:28:56Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > I believe no pheromones have been detected in the human species. Human females do however send out other signals when they’re ovulating, specifically meant to attract males. Pheromones have certainly been detected in humans. But there remains a lot of uncertainty and debate in the scientific community about how large their role is in human social behaviour, particulary in comparison to visual and auditory signals which we know are important among humans. And for precision and clarity: although the word ‘pheromone’ is often used with its ‘sex + animal instinct’ connotation (or precisely because of this connotation), it’s actually a general term to refer to any chemical signal used in intra-species communication. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-go-through-a-cute-little-phase/745558.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-go-through-a-cute-little-phase/745558.md?page=5)