# Men: Do you prefer Pretty, Cute, Beautiful or Sexy women? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 23, 2015, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-pretty-cute-beautiful-or-sexy-women/720660 "2015-05-23T17:47:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-pretty-cute-beautiful-or-sexy-women/720660/1 "2015-05-23T17:47:08Z")
[Inspiring thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=18385815) Decided to make it multiple choice-and the NOTA option too. Me, cute and adorable all the way. I leave it to the female Dopers here to devise a similar poll for them. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-pretty-cute-beautiful-or-sexy-women/720660/2 "2015-05-23T17:57:45Z")
Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-pretty-cute-beautiful-or-sexy-women/720660/3 "2015-05-23T19:29:07Z")
I like beautiful, but I’ll take pretty. Cute is close to being a turnoff. But sexy… every time. I’ve been around beautiful (as in, everyone in the restaurant turns around and says ‘Wow!’) women who didn’t do a damn thing for me, and my personal standards are such that I draw no real distinction on the scale between, say, young Karen Allen and young Sophia Loren (both just deadly). But I’ve known a number of women who were mildly pretty to unremarkable in looks who just rang my bell like nothing else - so shimmeringly \*\*\*sexy \*\*\*that I could hardly think around them. One was a plain-ish, almost tomboyish French literature professor who attended an event and had much to discuss with me, and I started having to find reasons to distance myself from her - not because anything was going to happen (my wife was usually somewhere nearby), not because I was having embarrassing juvenile physical reactions (a little, okay) but because I just couldn’t seem to _breathe_ while interacting with her. It makes be believe in Deltans and other Star Trek races that have killer pheromones. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-pretty-cute-beautiful-or-sexy-women/720660/4 "2015-05-23T20:27:46Z")
This is probably the Oxytocin talking as I just started dating this girl but, sometimes she’s beautiful, sometimes she’s cute and sometimes (when I’m lucky) she’s damn sexy. So, all of the above? ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-pretty-cute-beautiful-or-sexy-women/720660/5 "2015-05-23T20:30:35Z")
Eeeeeeee! Cute & sexy! Actually, cute is usually sexy… I’m only 5’9", so cute for me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-pretty-cute-beautiful-or-sexy-women/720660/6 "2015-05-23T21:08:14Z")
Cute, for sure. There are tons of cute astrophysicists and the like; I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a beautiful one. But even just physically, it’s what I prefer. The question is, what constitutes “cute”? ([First, some Newsradio on the subject.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJRzG0ehg6Y)) It’s mostly a “know it when I see it” deal, but I think there are certain attributes that tend to suggest cute as opposed to something else: glasses, relatively short hair, non-blonde hair (unless it’s [really short](http://images.beautyriot.com/photos/carey-mulligan-wavy-tousled-blonde.jpg)), relatively short in stature, dressing casually (or at least non-glamorously), [perkiness/hyperactivity](https://youtu.be/E0aNsWbWr1s?t=62) … what am I missing? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-pretty-cute-beautiful-or-sexy-women/720660/7 "2015-05-23T21:29:32Z")
I don’t think I can differentiate between the options. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-pretty-cute-beautiful-or-sexy-women/720660/8 "2015-05-23T23:00:58Z")
Mixture of beautiful and cute. ---
**Author:** ![Nefario](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/59ef9b/32.png) [@Nefario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefario)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-pretty-cute-beautiful-or-sexy-women/720660/9 "2015-05-23T23:53:36Z")
To me “cute” is a facial look but it also implies being physically attractive to be on my radar. I think cute also implies alert, fun, happy, thoughtful. “Beautiful” is more of a physical description but it doesn’t say that one is attracted to a person. Also cute can lead to sexiness _and_ ages well! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2015, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-pretty-cute-beautiful-or-sexy-women/720660/10 "2015-05-24T00:57:31Z")
More the “independent and smart” thing for me. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2015, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-pretty-cute-beautiful-or-sexy-women/720660/11 "2015-05-24T01:08:24Z")
Since it is a multiple-selection poll I voted for all five. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2015, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-pretty-cute-beautiful-or-sexy-women/720660/12 "2015-05-24T01:47:59Z")
Preference only? _Pretty_ and _cute_, definitely. I actually find _sexy_ and _beautiful_ a bit intimidating. _Cute_ is probably the most approachable. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2015, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-pretty-cute-beautiful-or-sexy-women/720660/13 "2015-05-24T01:57:39Z")
smart and funny ---
**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:** [May 24, 2015, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-pretty-cute-beautiful-or-sexy-women/720660/14 "2015-05-24T06:30:10Z")
Cute is my preference. I like pretty, but it’s optional if you are cute enough. Beautiful gets to the point where you don’t look real. Sexy isn’t optional, exactly, but it’s not a perpetual trait. If your sexiness is always on display, it’s just a bit offputting. I will admit I like what I call “nerdy imperfections.” Like, for example, like Anna Kendrick’s nose. If she didn’t have it, I don’t think she’d be cute. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2015, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-pretty-cute-beautiful-or-sexy-women/720660/15 "2015-05-24T08:39:33Z")
I prefer men. Sexy men. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2015, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-pretty-cute-beautiful-or-sexy-women/720660/16 "2015-05-24T11:56:57Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Since it is a multiple-selection poll I voted for all five. Yeah, who wouldn’t vote for at least 4 of them? I didn’t know what the hell a NOTA was so I couldn’t vote for the last option. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2015, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-pretty-cute-beautiful-or-sexy-women/720660/17 "2015-05-24T15:16:54Z")
Something else I didn’t think of. I could do a new poll with more factors, including those of a non-physical nature… ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-pretty-cute-beautiful-or-sexy-women/720660/18 "2015-05-24T16:33:00Z")
I like understated, where what you see first is plain and straightforward, and then a nuance here and a curve there and after awhile you’re all besotted with her appearance. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2015, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-pretty-cute-beautiful-or-sexy-women/720660/19 "2015-05-26T12:10:23Z")
Cute with the caveat “with big tits”. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2015, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-pretty-cute-beautiful-or-sexy-women/720660/20 "2015-05-26T12:28:42Z")
Cute. I define cute as like Cheryl Ladd, Valerie Bertinelli, Zooey Deschanel, and Meg Ryan. Beautiful is nice but not as appealing to me. Beautiful girls are like Liz Taylor and Sofia Loren in their primes, Jaclyn Smith, and Jennifer Aniston. Sexy girls try too hard. Marilyn Monroe, Farrah Fawcett come to mind. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-pretty-cute-beautiful-or-sexy-women/720660.md?page=2)