I don’t understand the basic concept of manly men not showering.
Manly men do manual labor for a living. They work as mechanics, construction workers, landscapers, athletes, and other such sweat-inducing jobs.
Not one man on the planet has ever gone to a day of work like those mentioned and come home without immediately showering.
The shower is possibly the high point of the manly man’s day. It feels good to get the grime of work off you, and the hot water relaxes all those muscles he strained all day.
Really, to think that a guy who does manual labor doesn’t shower the second he gets home is one of the silliest things I’ve ever heard.
But hey, I guess the poll had to skew for the metrosexual somehow, and that was the easiest way. Least in touch with reality, but easiest.
Regarding the metrosexual, you forgot to add that he won’t kill any bugs or deal with any pests…you have to kill the giant spider, because he’s more afraid than you are. A rat running around? He jumps in your arms.
I’ve always found it amusing all the women on the SDMB who claim to be attracted to nerds and geeks. Hundreds of them. And yet the nerds and geeks all have so much trouble getting women.
Is it that the nerds and the geeks have somehow magically all been born in different cities from where the women who love them were born? Or are people maybe not wholly realistic about what actually attracts them?
Dammit, I forgot my point. So the manly man gets home and showers, and is reasonably (though not extremely…he can’t be bothered to wash very conscientiously) clean. But he is HAIRY. You can’t really see the skin of his arms through the thick hair. Nor his chest. Speaking of chest, his chest hair actually brushes his neck. And he sheds worse than a dog.
I can’t speak for anyone but myself, but there is a shortage of nerds and geeks where I am. It took me a little while to figure out that I liked them, but I really do like nerds and geeks. Just have to go looking for them.
Maybe I can sneak into the computer science society’s meetings.
Anyway, there are a lot more nerds and geeks than there are women who actively seek them, I think. Maybe the numbers are off. The situation in my locale is opposite to what I believe to be the usual one.
I disagree with the definition of a “manly man” having poor hygiene. A “real” man takes care of his tools, and his body is the most important tool he owns. Of course, a “real” man isn’t afraid to use his tools, so he’s often doing stuff that leads to him being filthy. But when he’s done, he showers, shaves his five o’clock stubble, and puts on a clean flannel shirt.
It’s like Brawny paper towels. The guy on the package is a manly man. He’s not just manly, he’s like a lumberjack, or something. But is he a slob? Hell no! He’s got a whole line of paper towels named after him! He’s manly, sure, but that doesn’t mean he lives in squalor.
I shower and clean my fingernails. At least once a month!
I guess I’m the “manly” type. The five food groups are beer, meat, meat, bear, and meat. I do shower because if I don’t then I will offend myself long before I offend anybody else. In the hot weather, I shower two or three times a day ( I do physical work too).
But before the Doper ladies start beating my door down :D, I must confess I’m not a handyman’s left bollock. I can change a tyre, change the oil etc, but as far as doing something like putting up shelves in the kitchen, fuggedit. I don’t know a phillips hammer from a claw screwdriver.
I don’t know about that. I’m one of those women who is attracted to geeks. I’m very much in love with my geeky boyfriend. Two good friends of mine are very much in love with their geeky husbands. So, we geek-loving women really do exist.
In my experience, there are a great many nerds & geeks who are very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very shy so they hae trouble meeting women. And also there are a great many nerds and geeks who are only interested in supermodel types and don’t even notice women who aren’t physically perfect or nearly so, so they have trouble meeting those women. (And quite a few who fit into both categories, who really have trouble).
I think what some women think of as “nerds/geeks” might be a little different from the reality. I see this all the time in San Francisco. Most of the gals around me don’t really want either of the two types mention in the OP. What they DO want they call nerds and geeks but they are actually the ragged-haired tall and slim Atari shirt-wearing dudes. These guys are actually posing hipsters and the chicks dig that— yet a few of them may almost fit into the geek category because they were lured out here in the dot-com craze.
As for the REAL geeks/nerds here… I don’t see ANY of them getting much attention unless they are filthy rich. I think some women want to believe they love the underdog, but what they THINK is the underdog is actually a guy who cultivates that look. He spends a lot of time and money to look “just so” and he was probably pretty good-looking and socially adept to begin with.
FYI-- I am not really a geek/nerd type so I’m not just being bitter. Just calling it like I see it from where I stand. (I’m something else entirely --more of a occasional semi-he-man–without the bulging uber-muscles but kinda handy , but also an occasionally all-scrubbed-up-and-proper-for-the-opera, but also kinda geeky about the specific technical details called for in my music/film/video/tv/photography work and play; and sometimes into sitting around discussing pseudo-highbrow shit while I let other people do the dirty work).
One man’s opinions: most women are amazingly enthusiastic about being chummy with “metrosexual” guys, {which are really “faggy” or “prissy” guys}–but as I have seen it–most women are far more likely to actually get involved with a manly-man.
…Well okay, I’ll bite(!): some “faggy” clues on a guy would be-
hair gel, hair spray or any other “fashion” treatment (perms, coloring, bleaching)
friendship/string bracelets/most other decorative jewelry
earrings
These are things which used to be basically totally the province of women, yet in some circles have become acceptable for men.
On the flipside, tattoos are moving the other direction–they started out almost-totally a male preoccupation but by some US studies significantly more young women now are getting tattoos than men.
~
[QUOTE=DougC
…Well okay, I’ll bite(!): some “faggy” clues on a guy would be-
hair gel, hair spray or any other “fashion” treatment (perms, coloring, bleaching)
friendship/string bracelets/most other decorative jewelry
earrings
These are things which used to be basically totally the province of women, yet in some circles have become acceptable for men. [/QUOTE]
I gotta tell you dude… hair gel, bracelets or earrings or necklaces are all worn by just about all kinds of dudes now-- manly-man, metrosexual, nerd/geek, whatever. I don’t know where the fuck you’re from, but try to get out of the Feed Store every now and again.
Are you talking about a “manly-man” or a jock. Because I really am a manly-man by most definitions are girls sure as hell arn’t interested in my type. I love fixing cars and building shit. I get invited to most moving events because I can carry a lot of shit. Offer me a week at the fanciest zillion-dollar-a-night spa or camping without a shower or supplied food for a week, and I’ll grab my rod and head for the hills. I can grow a beard during a football game, and the most expensive piece of clothes I have ever bought was 19 bucks. Now I do vary from the manly-man control case in that I can cook a damn fine meal and I know computers real well. But in general terms I am a manly man, and girls don’t want us, girls want the jock who fakes manly-man ness by buying rock-climbing gear and learns how to talk about using it.
p.S. And for those intesested, I have helped butcher, cooked, and eaten a bear, and damn is that nasty ass sagey stringey meat ,
I once saw a survey that showed women preferred manly men during ovulation and more feminine looking (metrosexual) men the rest of the cycle. Presumably because manly men had the best genes, while metrosexual excelled at child-raising – no idea where geeks fit in (probably they sneaked by while mother evolution was looking the other way).
Geek factor: I am a mechanical engineer. 'nuff said.
Manly man factor: My hobbies include scuba diving (deep, mixed gas shipwreck penetrations), skydiving, winter mountaineering, rock and ice climbing, and sail racing. Before my geek career, I was heavily involved in search and rescue (ex-coast guard), and to this day keep involved in search and recovery, including swiftwater rescue, swiftwater diving, and so forth. While I don’t often do my own vehicle maintenance, I certainly know how the damned thing works, and can troubleshoot a problem if need be. I would put my outdoorsmanship skills up there with the best of them, but I’ll still take the five star hotel over roughing it whenever it’s not strictly necessary. I’m pretty hairy, except for my head where my hairline is receeding. I’m 28.
metro factor: I shower and brush my teeth every day, and on special occasions, I will use a clipper to trim my nails instead of chewing them off.
So, ladies… where am I going wrong? My last date was in 2001.