Do men really prefer dumb women? There’s a widespread belief that they do. Many women are often confused as to why men will fall for the slightly ‘dippy’ secretary, yet will ignore the successful career woman. Women will usually perceive this as due to the fact that men are attracted to submissive women whom they can dominate, and are intimidated by powerful, independent women. Some women will even go so far as to act dumb around guys, because they believe that this will make them more attractive. Is it really true that men prefer dumb women? Yes and no.

Research was carried out that found that the smarter a woman is, in terms of her I.Q., the less likely she is to get married. For men it was found to be the other way around. The smarter a guy is in terms of his I.Q. the more likely he is to marry by a certain age. Read more. Although there’s some controversy about the research, I think these finding are entirely expected. Here’s why.

The I.Q. or intelligence quotient is misleading. There is no clear agreement about what I.Q. actually measures, other than it appears to be linked to traditional academic abilities and success in the workplace. In other words, I.Q. is a kind of man-made yardstick to measure our ‘usefulness’ in a modern working world. Because of the beliefs that our profession and career defines our status in society, we’ve come to believe that intelligence and a having a successful career are one and the same thing, when it’s really not the case.

Nature uses a different yardstick to measure intelligence. Nature does not care one jot about man-made concepts such as I.Q. or high-flying careers. Success or failure in nature is measured by one thing, and one thing only: The number of healthy, surviving children that are passed on to the next generation. So the real question is not whether or not men are attracted to dumb women, but rather what is our definition of dumb and smart. For example, is the lonely career woman who devoted her life to work, making her bosses and company shareholders rich really smarter than the supermarket checkout girl who married at 21, and raised 4 children and 10 grandchildren? Nature doesn’t think so. The checkout girl is smart, as was the guy who married her, while the unfortunate career woman was a failure, a genetic dead-end.

When looking for a partner, a man will have a strong biological preference for a woman who is likely to be a good, caring mother. A woman, among many other things prefers a long-term partner who can provide resources. In other words, a man with good career prospects, call it high I.Q. or whatever, is a useful asset to a woman. On the other hand, a woman who is too pre-occupied with a career sends a signal to men that she is likely to put her career before family. Even in today’s world of childcare and equality it’s at odds with a man’s natural preferences.

When you look at it this way, it’s not too difficult to see why there’s a common perception that ‘men go for dumb women’. So the myth may be true, but the real problem is how we define dumb and smart.

Funny Statistics
Smart man + smart woman = romance
Smart man + dumb woman = affair
Dumb man + smart woman = marriage
Dumb man + dumb woman = pregnancy …