# Why don't men look like women or vice-versa? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 10, 2012, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-men-look-like-women-or-vice-versa/621565 "2012-05-10T23:12:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-men-look-like-women-or-vice-versa/621565/41 "2012-05-13T23:26:38Z")
> [@Capt\_Kirk](#): > > Perceptions are everything. I went in drag to work(at a live music venue) for Halloween, wore a black stretch mini-dress w/sleeves, tights, wonder bra w/silicone slip ins, a set of wide heels and a red bob cut wig. Plus of course make-up nails etc all done by a semi-pro. I am 5’9" slim and slender but not at all feminine looking > > Results were amazing > > 1 Won the work costume contest $200 ca ching > > 2 Women knew instantly/rather quickly. If they didn’t know they knew something was wrong > > 3 Men did not know until I opened my mouth and possibly didn’t care(a little) > > **3A Men are vile beasts who think primarily with their little brain, I literally had no idea it was this bad, really ladies sorry** > 4 What the heck are you Women wearing ? I had to disassemble myself to pee and the shoes??? your shoes are specifically designed to inhibit movement while crushing your toes > > Best part of the night, I am buying cigs at 3am, no longer fooling anyone cuz its 3am, leaning over the counter when a group of guys comes in and one leans over my shoulder and loudly whispers " Babe I have been looking for you my whole life" and I answer in Baritone “No you haven’t” I thought the clerk was was going to pass out from laughter along with the twenty others in the store, our heros buddies were rolling on the floor, he was nowhere to be seen. > > Sorry for a bit of a hijack, but I think it is relevant and funny. I was surprised that the women knew and the men did not, generally speaking for both groups > > Capt Kirk What happened; did some guy pinch your rear end? ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-men-look-like-women-or-vice-versa/621565/42 "2012-05-14T00:34:35Z")
> [@astro](#): > > There’s also the ability to more easily recognize same race and ethnic background as yourself. Having seen pics of Asian “ladyboys” I doubt I would be able to pick them out as men. You wouldn’t believe how good they look in person. Years ago when I was in my early 20’s and in Bangkok for the first time, I met this Australian guy that brought me to a Ladyboy bar. I hadn’t even heard of the whole ladyboy thing. After we were there a few minutes, he asked me how I liked the staff. I told him they looked great. He laughed and informed me that they were all guys. Between the low lights, long hair, fake boobs, shaved faces and legs, etc., I would challenge any guy to tell me they wouldn’t be fooled. We soon left and headed for the infamous Atlanta Hotel for the real thing. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-men-look-like-women-or-vice-versa/621565/43 "2012-05-14T01:03:01Z")
I can always pick out the ladyboy in a group od ladies. It’s just something you develop over time. But this whole meme about all ladyboys being beautiful is nonsense. Quite a few look like Charles Laughton in a dress. > [@Mangosteen](#): > > We soon left and headed for the infamous Atlanta Hotel for the real thing. “Infamous Atlanata Hotel”? 😕 The Atlanta is famous for being prim and proper. I doubt any lady of the shady variety has ever made it past the front desk. ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_Kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@Capt\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_Kirk)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-men-look-like-women-or-vice-versa/621565/44 "2012-05-14T02:05:15Z")
> [@medstar](#): > > What happened; did some guy pinch your rear end? To be honest it has been some time, so I don’t remember the exact words but I was hit on in the basest of ways. I distinctly remember being ashamed of my own sex and kinda grossed out, it was a weekend Halloween so everyone was in their cups and in Deep Ellum , everything was a bit outsized. Other than the ear whisperer no one touched me but I have that male voice a pretty good buffer. I will never forget Mikey, our bouncer, giving me the up and down once over, we gave him hell for months about it. I was looked at and treated like a piece of meat. Very interesting evening:D ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-men-look-like-women-or-vice-versa/621565/45 "2012-05-14T03:15:31Z")
I remember reading an interview with the front man from The Kinks. He mentioned the song _Lola_ was based on an incident where they had been clubbing all night; out in the light in the morning when the sun was coming up, he noticed that one of the “girls” they had picked up was showing a 5-o’clock shadow. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-men-look-like-women-or-vice-versa/621565/46 "2012-05-14T03:39:16Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > You can’t tell what genetic sex someone is just by glancing at them. You can tell what sex hormones their body has been exposed to early during development and even currently. It may seem like a nitpick but it is not. Genetic sex doesn’t always match the sex differentiation caused by the sex hormones (androgens and estrogens mainly). There is a disorder where a [person does not respond to testosterone](http://www.apa.org/topics/sexuality/intersex.pdf) (small PDF, see “androgen insensitivity”). When genetically male, these people develop into the model of femininity, even more so than genetic females, who have some testosterone. Sometimes the condition is not recognized at birth or until much later in life; though the genitals may appear normally female the other reproductive plumbing isn’t there. ---
**Author:** ![Corcaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Corcaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corcaigh)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-men-look-like-women-or-vice-versa/621565/47 "2012-05-14T12:07:39Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > That’s not necessarily because they think you are a guy… it could just be they think you have big feet. Right, so womens shoes don’t go bigger than a [UK] size 5? And why would mens shoes look good with a skirt? :dubious: (a US size 8 IIRC) [QUOTE=Baal Houtham] Women are generally smaller framed and shorter;\* have less prominent chins, jaws and adam’s apples; have little facial hair; have smaller brow ridges; proportionally smaller hands and feet; proportionally wider hips\* and shorter legs; _rounded butts and breasts; more fat under the skin that causes smoother features, generally rounder heads_. [/QUOTE] I fulfil the italicised criteria (I have ‘ridiculously’ long [34" inseam] legs) but I am persistently called “a man” by small children and old ladies. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-men-look-like-women-or-vice-versa/621565/48 "2012-05-14T15:36:51Z")
> [@Capt\_Kirk](#): > > Perceptions are everything. I went in drag to work(at a live music venue) for Halloween, wore a black stretch mini-dress w/sleeves, tights, wonder bra w/silicone slip ins, a set of wide heels and a red bob cut wig. Plus of course make-up nails etc all done by a semi-pro. I am 5’9" slim and slender but not at all feminine looking > > Results were amazing > > 1 Won the work costume contest $200 ca ching > > 2 Women knew instantly/rather quickly. If they didn’t know they knew something was wrong > > 3 Men did not know until I opened my mouth and possibly didn’t care(a little) > > 3A Men are vile beasts who think primarily with their little brain, I literally had no idea it was this bad, really ladies sorry > > 4 What the heck are you Women wearing ? I had to disassemble myself to pee and the shoes??? your shoes are specifically designed to inhibit movement while crushing your toes > > Best part of the night, I am buying cigs at 3am, no longer fooling anyone cuz its 3am, leaning over the counter when a group of guys comes in and one leans over my shoulder and loudly whispers " Babe I have been looking for you my whole life" and I answer in Baritone “No you haven’t” I thought the clerk was was going to pass out from laughter along with the twenty others in the store, our heros buddies were rolling on the floor, he was nowhere to be seen. > > Sorry for a bit of a hijack, but I think it is relevant and funny. I was surprised that the women knew and the men did not, generally speaking for both groups > > Capt Kirk When I was in HS there was a Halloween dance. I was going with a friend of mine (male). The doorball rang and outside was an attractive girl my age. I started talking and ‘she’ said “Duck, it’s me” and I saw it was my friend and he was in his halloween costume. HE LOOKED GOOD. I think this took him by surprise. We went to the dance and ‘he’ was hit on constantly. He was so uncomfortable he didn’t tell anyone who he was and swore me to secrecy and we left less than an hour in. For WEEKS afterward people would ask me about the hot chick I brought to the dance and if I could set them up with her…many times with that friend nearby. Now, this was about 16…and my friend wasn’t a manly man…but he didn’t look like a girl either normally. So, it is possible…you just don’t notice the ones that succeed. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-men-look-like-women-or-vice-versa/621565/49 "2012-05-14T17:32:10Z")
There seems to be a bias in Dungeons and Dragons oriented artwork, superheroine comics, etc. for blonde nordic goddesses (understandable) with giant chesticles (understandable) but square jaws and chiselled features (why? why?) Of course, this same bias seems to show up in the looks of many supermodels. Not sure why there is this specific cultural bias against feminine looking faces… ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-men-look-like-women-or-vice-versa/621565/50 "2012-05-14T17:58:38Z")
> [@Ruminator](#): > > That’s fine. I wasn’t trying to give you a hard time. > > Your word “practice” triggered my honest questions because I just read about the history of [chicken sexing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chick_sexing). > [snip] Wow, I first read that as “chicken sex **t** ing.” I was thinking “_Now_ what are kids up to these days?” ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-men-look-like-women-or-vice-versa/621565/51 "2012-05-14T22:00:49Z")
> [@Corcaigh](#): > > I fulfil the italicised criteria (I have ‘ridiculously’ long [34" inseam] legs) but I am persistently called “a man” by small children and old ladies. Can’t answer without pics. Small kids haven’t learned all the distinctions yet, and may be going by the simplest heuristic that has worked so far - people taller than a certain height = men. Old ladies are blind, so the same heuristic? Isn’t that like the rockstar with the long hair that has a “cute butt” until he turns around? ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-men-look-like-women-or-vice-versa/621565/52 "2012-05-15T04:17:13Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I can always pick out the ladyboy in a group od ladies. It’s just something you develop over time. But this whole meme about all ladyboys being beautiful is nonsense. Quite a few look like Charles Laughton in a dress. > > “Infamous Atlanata Hotel”? 😕 The Atlanta is famous for being prim and proper. I doubt any lady of the shady variety has ever made it past the front desk. Funny how things have changed. During the war and for a few years afterward, it was _thee_ place to find girls. I was there in 1976. The hotel bar was overflowing with prostitutes. The American military had left, but the girls had no place to go. I did go on their website and it certainly looks like it is a very prim and proper place today. I wonder when and what made the change occur. When did you first go to the Atlanta? ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-men-look-like-women-or-vice-versa/621565/53 "2012-05-15T23:56:03Z")
History of the Atlanta [http://travelerstales.com/carpet/000131.shtml](http://travelerstales.com/carpet/000131.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-men-look-like-women-or-vice-versa/621565/54 "2012-05-16T03:04:23Z")
I knew the Atlanta had once been a popular place – and I can confirm it did have the first hotel swimming pool in Thailand, at least that’s the story – but I’d never heard it was a major pick-up place. That would certainly not fly these days. Just as well, as it’s in a very inconvenient location, down at the end of a very long lane. The restaurant, with its heavily annotated menus, still attracts a loyal following though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-men-look-like-women-or-vice-versa/621565.md?page=2)