# Straight women: Does culinary or mechanical expertise make a man more attractive? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 23, 2013, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-women-does-culinary-or-mechanical-expertise-make-a-man-more-attractive/669516 "2013-09-23T15:10:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-women-does-culinary-or-mechanical-expertise-make-a-man-more-attractive/669516/41 "2013-09-25T02:40:12Z")
I’ll fix dinner. He needs to fix everything else. No question. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-women-does-culinary-or-mechanical-expertise-make-a-man-more-attractive/669516/42 "2013-09-25T03:11:24Z")
> [@DummyGladHands](#): > > I’ll fix dinner. He needs to fix everything else. No question. This. Cooking is my hobby, and I’m quite good at it, and I love to do it. And I’m pretty territorial about my kitchen, so I don’t even like to share it, except in a cute “aw, he’s trying to cook” kind of way. But fix my car quick and cheap and the panties slide right off. (If I’m dating you, not just if you’re some random mechanic at a shop.) ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-women-does-culinary-or-mechanical-expertise-make-a-man-more-attractive/669516/43 "2013-09-25T04:36:29Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > You know, I’ve heard comments like this before. In the early 2000s I had a girlfriend who really wanted to get married – scratch that. She really wanted to BE married, and as I was the person she was dating that desire got pointed at me. Anyway, she was bothered that I like to cook (note: I am hardly a genius chef as is described in the OP) and do my own laundry; she felt I had no room for a woman in my life. > > Are you SURE you could learn to be mechanical? I genuinely believe there’s some native aptitude involved in acquiring mechanical skill, and that a good number of people simply don’t have it, just as a good number of people are tone deaf. I missed this. I am sure. I have learned a few things along the way and while I’ll never be an engineer, am not without mechanical aptitude. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-women-does-culinary-or-mechanical-expertise-make-a-man-more-attractive/669516/44 "2013-09-25T13:49:43Z")
Looking at the poll results, I must be irresistible to women, since I can fix most things that commonly go wrong in a house (including electrical), and can put on a pretty decent spread. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-women-does-culinary-or-mechanical-expertise-make-a-man-more-attractive/669516/45 "2013-09-25T17:44:40Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > It’s easy and cheap enough to hire a handy man or contractor to come fix the broken shit around the house every so often. Hiring a personal chef to cook for me half of the time would be a far bigger expenditure, so I voted for our master chef. It’s easy and cheap enough to buy food to prepare or eat. Hiring a handyman to fix all the broken stuff around the house would be a far bigger expenditure, so I voted for the guy with mechanical aptitude. I’ll call him in from the workshop when dinner is ready. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-women-does-culinary-or-mechanical-expertise-make-a-man-more-attractive/669516/46 "2013-09-25T19:20:52Z")
Either one, but it’s got to be accompanied by not being a git about it. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-women-does-culinary-or-mechanical-expertise-make-a-man-more-attractive/669516/47 "2013-09-25T21:17:07Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > It’s easy and cheap enough to buy food to prepare or eat. Hiring a handyman to fix all the broken stuff around the house would be a far bigger expenditure, so I voted for the guy with mechanical aptitude. I’ll call him in from the workshop when dinner is ready. Yeah, but can you put a price tag on the joy you’ll feel when you come home to an expertly prepared, delicious meal everyday? Answer: you cannot. ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-women-does-culinary-or-mechanical-expertise-make-a-man-more-attractive/669516/48 "2013-09-26T03:43:27Z")
I want a man who can cook and clean up after himself., and if he has mechanical aptitude so much the better. Havng to live with a man-child who is helpless in the kitchen would piss me off. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-women-does-culinary-or-mechanical-expertise-make-a-man-more-attractive/669516.md?page=2)