# Why women lose appeal sooner than men **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 15, 2014, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-women-lose-appeal-sooner-than-men/678910 "2014-01-15T21:31:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mythoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7993a0/32.png) [@mythoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mythoughts)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-women-lose-appeal-sooner-than-men/678910/1 "2014-01-15T21:31:41Z")
I was reading something about how women in hollywood often don’t last as long as the men due to the effects of aging. Thinking on this I had a realization, that youth is feminizing and age is masculinizing, Some young boys you can be easily confused for girls if either the clothes or hair cut doesn’t give it away. Often young women are attracted to older men I believe because the guys their age are not masculine enough. At the other end, old women will often have a deep voice and a moustache they have to shave off, while old men look tougher and more masculine with the ravages of age, scars and wrinkles. These do not support feminine appearance so well. Maybe this does not entirely explain the claimed difference in longevity of careers of actors, models and other celebrities. But I think the observation is interesting. Now I was thinking of mentioning another pointless observation, that french people aren’t meant to be able to say H properly, which is why the stereotypical snooty French laugh is without a H sound, although spelling examples of this laugh seem to include an h, oh-hoh-hoh-hoh-hoh-hoh. At any rate I came across [this youtube video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMVvLdIaXcM) of some french laughing young teens and my thought was much like the top comment from ‘indeego’. Which kinda makes my point, youth is feminizing. I bet if you see him at 40-50-60, he will not be so easy to confuse with a female. Of course if an actress was never popular because of her feminine beauty , but because of her acting ability and character, then this would not be an issue. This could explain the continued popularity of Dame Judy Dench. Maybe this was all obvious, but it wasn’t to me before I had these insights. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-women-lose-appeal-sooner-than-men/678910/2 "2014-01-15T21:33:46Z")
I think it’s because women don’t shave enough, obviously. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-women-lose-appeal-sooner-than-men/678910/3 "2014-01-15T21:39:32Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > I think it’s because women don’t shave enough, obviously. 😛 And they have ugly black pubes. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-women-lose-appeal-sooner-than-men/678910/4 "2014-01-15T21:46:56Z")
As Joan Rivers used to say, “After 40, it’s patch, patch, patch!” And really, she should know. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-women-lose-appeal-sooner-than-men/678910/5 "2014-01-15T21:49:29Z")
I don’t find that true. I much prefer the older women. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-women-lose-appeal-sooner-than-men/678910/6 "2014-01-15T22:01:00Z")
Women just can’t do anything right ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-women-lose-appeal-sooner-than-men/678910/7 "2014-01-15T22:22:40Z")
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old time is still a-flying: And this same flower that smiles to-day To-morrow will be dying. (And by “rosebuds” we mean “guys who are willing to spend serious green on dates.”) ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-women-lose-appeal-sooner-than-men/678910/8 "2014-01-15T22:28:41Z")
An older woman is less fertile, and humans tend towards monogamy. Therefore younger is better in reproductive terms, since that maximizes her fertile period - in other words, blame monogamy. Non-monogamous male chimps don’t care about how old a female is. On the other hand from a Darwinian female point of view an older male is one who has proven himself, especially in the far more dangerous societies of pre-history. He also tends to have higher status and more wealth. And, males don’t completely lose fertility until they die. So, blame evolution. Of course, without evolution we wouldn’t care about sex in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-women-lose-appeal-sooner-than-men/678910/9 "2014-01-15T22:39:20Z")
Setting aside the rest of the post, I just couldn’t let this particular bit of idiocy stand (bolding mine): > [@mythoughts](#): > > **Of course if an actress was never popular because of her feminine beauty** , but because of her acting ability and character, then this would not be an issue. > This could explain the continued popularity of Dame **Judy Dench**. I present to you: the [youthful](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lembabvkXz1qzxw5jo1_500.jpg), [feminine](http://media.mademan.com/chickipedia/uploaded_photos/5/55/Judi_Dench-young-chickipedia-hot_thumb_585x795.jpg) [beauty](http://www.deltafilms.net/images/Spotlight/JudiDench_43.jpg) of [Dame](http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/51/69/bf/5169bfd6b682a9a6857b5e33177b33c1.jpg) [Judy](http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Arts/Arts_/Pictures/2009/10/13/1255449224710/Judi-Dench-in-1968.-001.jpg) [Dench](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TMSYUVDdi14/UA6jNPALvlI/AAAAAAAAAus/fAN71tG5WTg/s640/DameJudi.jpg). I mean, I’m sure she was never popular _only_ because of her beauty, because damn, she can act. [But come _on_](http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02367/judi_2367526b.jpg)! ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-women-lose-appeal-sooner-than-men/678910/10 "2014-01-15T22:44:56Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, > Old time is still a-flying: > And this same flower that smiles to-day > To-morrow will be dying. > > (And by “rosebuds” we mean “guys who are willing to spend serious green on dates.”) Huh. I always thought it meant buttholes. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-women-lose-appeal-sooner-than-men/678910/11 "2014-01-15T23:43:14Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > I don’t find that true. I much prefer the older women. When you say this, do you mean you prefer the look of an older woman, or do you prefer an older woman who looks like a much younger woman? I’m personally not attracted physically to men after they hit around 45, but if they still LOOK younger I’ll make an exception. It’s just a personal preference of course. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-women-lose-appeal-sooner-than-men/678910/12 "2014-01-16T00:30:44Z")
A woman’s fertility drops off with age. [![](https://www.thewomenseye.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/VictoriaMaizesfemale-fertility-graph2.jpeg) ](https://www.thewomenseye.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/VictoriaMaizesfemale-fertility-graph2.jpeg) Older women can’t get pregnant, ergo people don’t want to fuck them as much (or blow smoke up their ass by telling them they are smart/funny when they really aren’t, etc). Women try to beat this system with cosmetics and surgery, trying to appear on the outside to be \<35 and some are successful and manage to do that well into their 50s. One thing I like about getting older, and others have mentioned this, is you find a larger age range of women attractive both physically and mentally whereas younger you just found a small percent attractive and that was mostly physical. After you gain some experience (including having a woman shit on your heart) you realize looks and fertility aren’t everything. You can find women of various ages attractive for various reasons. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-women-lose-appeal-sooner-than-men/678910/13 "2014-01-16T01:59:36Z")
I always took it as God making up for high school. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-women-lose-appeal-sooner-than-men/678910/14 "2014-01-16T02:02:35Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > When you say this, do you mean you prefer the look of an older woman, or do you prefer an older woman who looks like a much younger woman? > > I’m personally not attracted physically to men after they hit around 45, but if they still LOOK younger I’ll make an exception. It’s just a personal preference of course. If I were to fantasize about making love to someone it would be an older woman. I enjoy older women who stay in relatively good shape but not looking like a 25 year old. The one exception I noticed is the girl who pays Leona on “shameless” she gets to me. ---
**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:** [January 16, 2014, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-women-lose-appeal-sooner-than-men/678910/15 "2014-01-16T02:34:03Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > I’m personally not attracted physically to men after they hit around 45… Gotta ask, how old are _you_? ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-women-lose-appeal-sooner-than-men/678910/16 "2014-01-16T06:16:10Z")
I don’t care what advances have been made or what’s in. The most fuckable women are aged 16 to 27. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-women-lose-appeal-sooner-than-men/678910/17 "2014-01-16T07:16:47Z")
> [@mythoughts](#): > > I was reading something about how women in hollywood often don’t last as long as the men due to the effects of aging. Yes, there are all sorts of studies/articles that show that women drop off the Hollywood radar sooner than men. But there are always exceptions (you yourself cite Judi Dench). Women also get an earlier start than men at “adult” roles. For example, look at Scarlett Johansson. She’s only 29 years old and has been playing adult women since she was 19 (Lost in Translation). Now look at another popular young actor: Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Levitt is 32 and only started playing adults with regularity beginning in 2009 when he was 28 (500 Days of Summer). This kind of age disparity exists in a lot of films. So while women may drop off earlier, they’re also able to start earlier. In Hollywood, girls become women at 18. But boys don’t get to be men until they’re about 28. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-women-lose-appeal-sooner-than-men/678910/18 "2014-01-16T13:15:45Z")
Here’s my theory [attention pedants: wild generalizations and speculations follow!]: The boys in the Hollywood boys’ club don’t want to fuck any woman over 40, so they assume no one wants to fuck any woman over 40, so they don’t want to cast any actress over 40 in their movies because they assume no one (that is, no man; who can begin to fathom women’s alien brains?) would want to watch, because why would anyone waste their time watching a movie starring a woman they don’t want to fuck??? It’s just a theory. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-women-lose-appeal-sooner-than-men/678910/19 "2014-01-16T13:20:02Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > If I were to fantasize about making love to someone it would be an older woman. I enjoy older women who stay in relatively good shape but not looking like a 25 year old. The one exception I noticed is the girl who pays Leona on “shameless” she gets to me. Older than what? ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-women-lose-appeal-sooner-than-men/678910/20 "2014-01-16T13:30:52Z")
Beyond the Hollywood thing, older men sometimes have the appeal of money. The more rapacious younger women are more likely to overlook the signs of age in men if it means a luxurious lifestyle. Or, even better, a lucrative divorce settlement. Why else does Donald Trump keep marrying young cuties? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-women-lose-appeal-sooner-than-men/678910.md?page=2)