This is interesting to someone who (like me) has often been "the friend"
I was reading a NYTimes article about the "Sexiness of Hybrids." The author, who loves to drive a meaty-engined mustang, was trying to find the sex appeal, so important to muscular cars, in a hybrid.
"Still, one thing nagged at me. As I headed down Fifth Avenue in the Prius on a warm, late September evening — presumably one of the last of the year where you might see short skirts and low-cut tops — I was noticing an absence of glances from women. This was rarely a problem in the Mustang.
After all, said David M. Buss, a professor of evolutionary psychology at the University of Texas in Austin, women are almost hard-wired to notice a car like the Mustang. “Men with the muscle cars and sports cars tend to be signaling that they have extravagant resources, and sufficient excess to lavish those resources on nonnecessities,” he said in an e-mail message. “These are precisely the qualities that women look for in a short-term mate — extravagant display of resources that can be devoted to them.
But that does not mean that manhood must be sacrificed in a Prius, he said. “Men driving the prudent, fuel efficient cars, in contrast, are signaling that they are not short-term mating strategies, but rather long-term mating strategies,” he added. “They are signaling dependability, reliability, conscientiousness, long-term planning and willingness to commit.”
So, of course, I thought of my past and promptly reverted to being a teenager. It's hard to change the inherent personality qualities of yourself so I'm not really going to try. I do, though, like many of my fiercely intelligent, passionate, creative male friends occasionally wince at the feeling that we're often viewed as "the friend" and not as someone who should be pounced upon. Seeing that I whole-heartedly support hybrids, and would hump the legs of those who drive them, I found myself again thinking like a teenager. "But I'm so nice and good to you. I give you hugs. I drive a hybrid. Why isn't that sexy to you?"
I am, of course, smiling as I write this. The adult in me knows better, but the teenager in me still occasionally thinks those thoughts.
"Still, one thing nagged at me. As I headed down Fifth Avenue in the Prius on a warm, late September evening — presumably one of the last of the year where you might see short skirts and low-cut tops — I was noticing an absence of glances from women. This was rarely a problem in the Mustang.
After all, said David M. Buss, a professor of evolutionary psychology at the University of Texas in Austin, women are almost hard-wired to notice a car like the Mustang. “Men with the muscle cars and sports cars tend to be signaling that they have extravagant resources, and sufficient excess to lavish those resources on nonnecessities,” he said in an e-mail message. “These are precisely the qualities that women look for in a short-term mate — extravagant display of resources that can be devoted to them.
But that does not mean that manhood must be sacrificed in a Prius, he said. “Men driving the prudent, fuel efficient cars, in contrast, are signaling that they are not short-term mating strategies, but rather long-term mating strategies,” he added. “They are signaling dependability, reliability, conscientiousness, long-term planning and willingness to commit.”
So, of course, I thought of my past and promptly reverted to being a teenager. It's hard to change the inherent personality qualities of yourself so I'm not really going to try. I do, though, like many of my fiercely intelligent, passionate, creative male friends occasionally wince at the feeling that we're often viewed as "the friend" and not as someone who should be pounced upon. Seeing that I whole-heartedly support hybrids, and would hump the legs of those who drive them, I found myself again thinking like a teenager. "But I'm so nice and good to you. I give you hugs. I drive a hybrid. Why isn't that sexy to you?"
I am, of course, smiling as I write this. The adult in me knows better, but the teenager in me still occasionally thinks those thoughts.
posted by Mr. Astigmatism at 12:17 PM
1 Comments:
As a woman I must say that I look at men in muscle cars and think "you selfish bastard," I look at men in Priuses (prii?) and think "yea... but you are still driving," I look at men on bicycles and think "sexy, dependable, and nice legs," and I look at men on fixed gear bicycles and think, "I gotta get me some of those extravagant resources!"
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