# How important is facial beauty in determining whether you're sexually attracted to someone? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 27, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-facial-beauty-in-determining-whether-youre-sexually-attracted-to-someone/576167 "2011-03-27T17:37:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-facial-beauty-in-determining-whether-youre-sexually-attracted-to-someone/576167/21 "2011-03-27T20:11:39Z")
Your poll seems to be confused about the definition of ‘[cisgender](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cisgender)’. A cisgender person would have no problem answering your poll. (Nor would most transgender persons.) ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-facial-beauty-in-determining-whether-youre-sexually-attracted-to-someone/576167/22 "2011-03-27T20:20:03Z")
If the face is ugly, I won’t be attracted to that person. On the other hand, a great face _will not_ outweigh (hah!) a horrible body (which basically means very overweight or very thin or something else that I can’t get over). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-facial-beauty-in-determining-whether-youre-sexually-attracted-to-someone/576167/23 "2011-03-27T20:55:14Z")
I’m surprised there are so many men saying that the face is pretty much the whole ballgame… I’m a face guy, too, but I had always gotten the impression that we were a minority. ---
**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:** [March 27, 2011, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-facial-beauty-in-determining-whether-youre-sexually-attracted-to-someone/576167/24 "2011-03-27T21:45:02Z")
I think the face is important, but my standards on what makes for a cute face are a bit different. I’ve also been known to see a girl who’s face is just okay, but who is attractive because of her body–even thought she would be twice as attractive with a pretty face. That’s a long way to say I chose the second option. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-facial-beauty-in-determining-whether-youre-sexually-attracted-to-someone/576167/25 "2011-03-27T21:46:55Z")
If the face is average, I’ll still check you out. (picked option #2) ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-facial-beauty-in-determining-whether-youre-sexually-attracted-to-someone/576167/26 "2011-03-27T21:51:59Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m surprised there are so many men saying that the face is pretty much the whole ballgame… I’m a face guy, too, but I had always gotten the impression that we were a minority. And this has not been my observation. My observation is that a good body…even a reasonably decent body - trumps face every time. When I was young,[my face was pretty](http://www.helpstoidstopthepain.info/mememe/). And I was fat. Not enormous, just fat, and I carried it low, so it didn’t really mar my face. One of my closest friends was decidedly not pretty. She had extremely plain features, wore cokebottle glasses, and had a terrible skin condition on her face that looked like giant headless pimples. But she was very slim. Not a great body, just very slim, kind of a boy body. Guess which one of us had the bigger challenge dating? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-facial-beauty-in-determining-whether-youre-sexually-attracted-to-someone/576167/27 "2011-03-27T23:05:48Z")
> [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](#): > > No option for this. > > I’m a straight female and if I’m not attracted to the face, the body can’t compensate. Same here. Honestly, most men’s fashion barely hints at a guy’s body, so by the time he’s undressed it’s hardly an issue. Even if I meet a guy on the beach or in the gym (god forbid), if I’m talking to him face-to-face, I’m probably not looking below his neck. I might check out a man’s body, out of habit, but I won’t find him attractive if I don’t like his face or his style (anything from his facial expressions to his hairstyle to the t-shirt he’s wearing). ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-facial-beauty-in-determining-whether-youre-sexually-attracted-to-someone/576167/28 "2011-03-28T01:28:31Z")
I think the most interesting thing about the poll is the preponderance of straight male respondents. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-facial-beauty-in-determining-whether-youre-sexually-attracted-to-someone/576167/29 "2011-03-28T01:30:33Z")
I’m a straightish woman. Face is of paramount importance, but there is no option for me in the poll. I’m not at attracted to soft/fat men though, even if they have handsome faces. Physical perfection outside of the face isn’t going to lead to anything either. Basically I am shallow as hell. A nice smile, sparkle in the eyes, etc are meaningless to me in terms of ever having sex with someone, unless the man in question is on the thinner side, not too tall, and has sexy hands, a shapely nose, nice ears (not too big, too small, or sticking out), healthy straight square teeth, full but firm lips, a nice chin and jawline, a well-shaped head, and pretty eyes (I prefer large but deep-set ones). Thankfully I met a man who fulfills all these criteria and is also smart, funny, kind, generally awesome and likes me back. ETA: My boyfriend is like me; shallow and picky, lol. You’ve got to have a pretty face AND a good body for him to consider you - but a good body can never make up for a face he’s not attracted to. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-facial-beauty-in-determining-whether-youre-sexually-attracted-to-someone/576167/30 "2011-03-28T02:03:09Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > I’m not at attracted to soft/fat men though, even if they have handsome faces. Physical perfection outside of the face isn’t going to lead to anything either. Basically I am shallow as hell. A nice smile, sparkle in the eyes, etc are meaningless to me in terms of ever having sex with someone, unless the man in question is on the thinner side,…and has sexy hands, a shapely nose, … I’m all about the tall thin great hands good teeth. Beyond that, whatever. But I am very much not attracted to fat men. (And there’s no hypocrisy in that, because I don’t expect anyone to be attracted to me in spite of my weight, it’s just nice when they are.) At the end of the day, though, kissing is mission critical for anything sexual, so if the face, and especially the mouth, isn’t appealing, then the greatest body on earth isn’t going to overcome it. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-facial-beauty-in-determining-whether-youre-sexually-attracted-to-someone/576167/31 "2011-03-28T12:45:43Z")
I can be attracted to menfolk who are objectively ugly, if they are also smart and kind. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Edie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/50afbb/32.png) [@Little\_Edie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Edie)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-facial-beauty-in-determining-whether-youre-sexually-attracted-to-someone/576167/32 "2011-03-28T14:33:17Z")
The ‘butterface’ phenomenon has always been a bit weird and even creepy to me. How can you look someone in the eyes when you’re only attracted to what’s below their neck? ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-facial-beauty-in-determining-whether-youre-sexually-attracted-to-someone/576167/33 "2011-03-28T15:10:34Z")
I voted ‘Face and Body are About Equal’ - both have to be decent or I just can’t get interested. FWIW, a fella has to have very nice hands or he’s completely out even if he is super handsome and has a great body. My only ‘must have’ I guess. Well, I suppose he has to have nice eyes and a nice smile as well - and for the poster who asked up thread, for me at least some men look _VERY_ creepy when they smile at you - it’s almost like a leer. That’s always a turn off. Perhaps that’s what women mean when they say nice eyes/smile - a sincere look with zero creep factor. Dunno. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-facial-beauty-in-determining-whether-youre-sexually-attracted-to-someone/576167/34 "2011-03-28T16:25:40Z")
I didn’t see an option that really fit me. The face can be all that matters if it’s a really cute face. Fat or skinny doesn’t seem to influence whether I find a guy’s face attractive, either. I tend to _really like_ rosy or flushed cheeks and bright non-brown (blue or green generally) eyes, with full smiling lips. But physical attraction is wholly secondary for me, whether face or body. Even if the face is ugly and the body is meh, personality and charisma can easily outweigh attractiveness in my choice of partner. I’ve dated some butt-fugly fat guys with small dicks in the past, didn’t care, still loved them. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-facial-beauty-in-determining-whether-youre-sexually-attracted-to-someone/576167/35 "2011-03-28T17:11:09Z")
> [@j66](#): > > I think the most interesting thing about the poll is the preponderance of straight male respondents. This is probably only because of how many straight women are not voting because there’s no option for a okay (or better) body not making up for an unattractive face. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-facial-beauty-in-determining-whether-youre-sexually-attracted-to-someone/576167/36 "2011-03-28T17:13:47Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > This is probably only because of how many straight women are not voting because there’s no option for a okay (or better) body not making up for an unattractive face. Which, as I said, was an editing mistake on my part. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-facial-beauty-in-determining-whether-youre-sexually-attracted-to-someone/576167/37 "2011-03-28T18:34:06Z")
My partner and I are polar opposites on this question. My personal ranking is face, personality and then body. For him, body is the top priority with face a distant second. (we’re a gay male couple) ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-facial-beauty-in-determining-whether-youre-sexually-attracted-to-someone/576167/38 "2011-03-29T05:23:59Z")
I think these options seem too extreme and biased for people to feel too comfortable answering them. More generic, open ended, vague answers probably would’ve had people more comfortably selecting some of the options. That said, something that amuses me about the phoenominon is because I think (speaking as a straight male) people feel like they’re supposed to say face. As if being attracted to a face is somehow less shallow, because it’s more… a part of the personality of the person? It seems crude and primitive to acknowledge the importance of the body, whereas it somehow seems non-superficial and appropriate to acknowledge the importance of the face. The irony of this is that they’re both superficial features - in fact, you could make a case that the face is essentially something that someone is stuck with regardless of how good or bad their personality is (and therefore an entirely superficial judgement), where at least you can work at improving the body. In reality, for men at least, body is really important. I think I’m on the high-end of the face importance scale amongst males and I’d probably pick an option between 2 and 3 if I could. (But it’s a whole package sort of deal, I don’t really think about one thing making up for another, which is part of the difficult in selecting the answers as written). But I know I’m supposed to say the face is more important. I know I can tell a woman that she has a pretty face with her being pleased whereas “hey, nice rack” usually does not get quite such a good reception. I would say, in general, an ugly girl with a killer body will have an easier time getting male attention than a fat girl with a beautiful face, by quite a large margin. But it’s not exactly clear cut and linear - a fairly pretty girl with a pretty much run of the mill mildly overweight body might have better luck than a skinny girl with weird facial features. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-facial-beauty-in-determining-whether-youre-sexually-attracted-to-someone/576167/39 "2011-03-29T06:13:21Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > I would say, in general, an ugly girl with a killer body will have an easier time getting male attention than a fat girl with a beautiful face, by quite a large margin. But it’s not exactly clear cut and linear - a fairly pretty girl with a pretty much run of the mill mildly overweight body might have better luck than a skinny girl with weird facial features. Doesn’t even have to be “killer”. I’ve never resented the fact that most men aren’t attracted to a fat woman, I’m not attracted to fat men. What I DO resent is men who are happy to have a sexual relationship with a fat girl and enjoy it thoroughly, but won’t have her as a public girlfriend. I don’t think you see much of that among women: if a woman finds a man genuinely attractive enough, for whatever reason, to want to have sex with him, she’s not going to stop short ofhaving a real relationship with him just because she’s got issues with his appearance. I will say, though, in my entire sexual life I was only with one man who genuine found my body attractive the way men usually will find a woman’s body attractive if they are having sex, and while it was very nice to feel comfortable and appreciated in that way for once, I swear within half an hour it was getting on my nerves to have him so enraptured by my ass. I was thinking “What about ME? My personality, my sexual energy, my moves… an ass is just an ass and I am not really responsible for it!” It was very enlightening and changed my attitude a great deal about what it really means to be a very attractive woman, and I have had it confirmed since by extremely attractive women I know. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-facial-beauty-in-determining-whether-youre-sexually-attracted-to-someone/576167/40 "2011-03-29T16:46:26Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Doesn’t even have to be “killer”. > I’ve never resented the fact that most men aren’t attracted to a fat woman, I’m not attracted to fat men. > > What I DO resent is men who are happy to have a sexual relationship with a fat girl and enjoy it thoroughly, but won’t have her as a public girlfriend. I don’t think you see much of that among women: if a woman finds a man genuinely attractive enough, for whatever reason, to want to have sex with him, she’s not going to stop short ofhaving a real relationship with him just because she’s got issues with his appearance. If I were single and she were available, I’d be happy to squire [Loretta Devine](http://www.google.com/images?q=loretta%20devine&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1280&bih=615) wherever the hell she wanted to go. That may be as much the face as the voice, though. She’s incredibly sexy. Breaking my own rule about talking only about appearance in this thread, kd lang is also incredibly sexy. That’s just the voice, though. And of course she’s not likely to be interested in me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-facial-beauty-in-determining-whether-youre-sexually-attracted-to-someone/576167.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-important-is-facial-beauty-in-determining-whether-youre-sexually-attracted-to-someone/576167.md?page=3)