# Tendency of pretty girls & women to congregate socially with other pretty girls **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 29, 2015, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tendency-of-pretty-girls-women-to-congregate-socially-with-other-pretty-girls/729249 "2015-08-29T03:17:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [August 30, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tendency-of-pretty-girls-women-to-congregate-socially-with-other-pretty-girls/729249/61 "2015-08-30T18:11:33Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > See also the cheerleader effect. And the fact that photographs usually capture people looking at their best, not their worst. Sorry, but I have to disagree here. Sure, maybe the ones that capture them at their best are the ones that get shared, but people complain all the time about how they look bad in photos. There are [even](http://www.funnzyclub.com/uploadedpics/796315210_07_2012_04_45_50_%D9%85.png) [memes](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CMaGwdPUYAA7F8v.jpg) about it, ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tendency-of-pretty-girls-women-to-congregate-socially-with-other-pretty-girls/729249/62 "2015-08-30T20:09:02Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Not always, but usually it does push you substantially toward the “more attractive” end of the bell curve especially for photos. In thinking more analytically about my OP in this thread the “pretty” impression I’m referring to, if deconstructed, is really more about being fit and looking good in shorts, sundress or a bikini than stand alone facial prettiness. If it was just a series of headshots these “pretty” girls would be attractive-“ish” but we’re not talking face models here. It’s the package of a bunch of fit and trim women in clothing that shows off their legs and figures all smiling and happy. > > For these women fitness, dressing attractively and the lifestyle focus that goes with that is probably a priority so the “birds of a feather” theory is probably the most explanatory. The Women Algorithm, that has eluded the finest thinkers for centuries, is a mere toy in your hands, There’s a Nobel Prize in this, I’ll warrant. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tendency-of-pretty-girls-women-to-congregate-socially-with-other-pretty-girls/729249/63 "2015-08-30T20:23:25Z")
The ugly one is always the photographer. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tendency-of-pretty-girls-women-to-congregate-socially-with-other-pretty-girls/729249/64 "2015-08-30T20:49:27Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Sorry, but I have to disagree here. Sure, maybe the ones that capture them at their best are the ones that get shared, but people complain all the time about how they look bad in photos. There are [even](http://www.funnzyclub.com/uploadedpics/796315210_07_2012_04_45_50_%D9%85.png) [memes](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CMaGwdPUYAA7F8v.jpg) about it, 1. People are their harshest critics. 2. People tend to dislike their own photos because they are accostomed to their mirror image. Not the image that everyone else sees–which is what a photograph shows. 3. Attraction is in the eye of the beholder. I don’t think I’m attractive because I’m not attracted to people who look like me. But I know that when I get glammed up, I come very close to looking “conventionally pretty”. Guess what? I’m much more likely to have my picture taken when I’m glammed up than when I’m not. This isn’t rocket scientist. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tendency-of-pretty-girls-women-to-congregate-socially-with-other-pretty-girls/729249/65 "2015-08-30T21:03:21Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > … Folks like Paris Hilton–not super good-looking… Indeed, more like a sinister lizard, plastered with make-up. As to the OP, one aspect not mentioned as regards these groups is status - as looks are deemed more important in determining female status, they’ll tend towards the same stratum of socially-agreed attractiveness - while with the bloke groups, the homogeneity of their bank balances is less obvious from a photo. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tendency-of-pretty-girls-women-to-congregate-socially-with-other-pretty-girls/729249/66 "2015-08-30T23:40:35Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > The Women Algorithm, that has eluded the finest thinkers for centuries, is a mere toy in your hands, There’s a Nobel Prize in this, I’ll warrant. I shall donate my medal to the Dope and the cash portion of the prize will go to found the University of Chicago School of Critical Social Analysis devoted to spalinin’ stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tendency-of-pretty-girls-women-to-congregate-socially-with-other-pretty-girls/729249/67 "2015-08-31T05:37:54Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Not always, but usually it does push you substantially toward the “more attractive” end of the bell curve especially for photos. In thinking more analytically about my OP in this thread the “pretty” impression I’m referring to, if deconstructed, is really more about being fit and looking good in shorts, sundress or a bikini than stand alone facial prettiness. If it was just a series of headshots these “pretty” girls would be attractive-“ish” but we’re not talking face models here. It’s the package of a bunch of fit and trim women in clothing that shows off their legs and figures all smiling and happy. > > For these women fitness, dressing attractively and the lifestyle focus that goes with that is probably a priority so the “birds of a feather” theory is probably the most explanatory. So after some women hit up the gym they might also go to the spa and do the hair and skin regiment then go to the mall and buy the most flattering outfits. Heck maybe a little cosmetic surgery? ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tendency-of-pretty-girls-women-to-congregate-socially-with-other-pretty-girls/729249/68 "2015-08-31T05:46:26Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > But thin/athletic body type doesn’t mean attractive. I agree. I have a female relative who works out alot which makes her super thin with nice legs. OTOH she has an awkward smile due to an odd jawline so tends to have a depressed/frowning look even when she isnt. Also she rarely wears makeup or does up her hair so really isnt “pretty” so to speak except on the rare occasion where she really tries by doing up her hair and putting on makeup. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tendency-of-pretty-girls-women-to-congregate-socially-with-other-pretty-girls/729249/69 "2015-08-31T20:42:03Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I don’t know about photos, but in general, attractive women prefer to hang out with unattractive women. And the reverse is true as well: unattractive women prefer to hang out with attractive women. > > Think about it: An attractive woman going out on the town doesn’t want to pal around with another attractive woman. She’ll just be competing with her companion for the attention of the men. So she’d rather hang out with a relatively unattractive woman, thereby allowing herself first choice of the men that come their way. > > Likewise, an unattractive woman isn’t likely to hang out with other unattractive women. They’d never get the attention of ANY men. She’d rather hang out with an attractive friend, and have her choice pickings of the men that her attractive friend passes on. > > So, two attractive women would be competing for men, which they don’t want. Two unattractive women would be totally ignored, which they don’t want. But a cutie and an ugly hanging out is totally symbiotic: the cutie gets first choice of the men, and the bowser gets second crack at the men who don’t cut it with the pretty one. Win-win! Females be femaling. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tendency-of-pretty-girls-women-to-congregate-socially-with-other-pretty-girls/729249.md?page=3)