I don’t take Roissy all that seriously but have read quite a bit of his stuff. I’ve never understood him as comparing women’s value as people, but rather their sexual value or dating value from the perspective of the (sort of) median man.
The sexual value is something determined by “the sexual marketplace”. Sure some people like the less likeable, but they are pretty rare and thus on average the person with these traits will need to be less picky, since she/he runs into those interested in them less often.
but rather their sexual value or dating value from the perspective of the (sort of) median man.
Yep, I can understand that. though his phraseology is very clearly as though it is an inherent value of her worth as a (sexual) person… which is what I found so unappetising.
I also disagree with his valuation. I know from… well knowing 40 YO women (and older), that they do indeed suffer from diminished sexual appeal—but certainly nowhere near zero. 40YOlds get it on all the time… therefore his valuation is wrong. It is limited by his own personal perspective—and that of the average young-ish man who is himself high up on the “sexual appeal” rating.
I can definitely understand that for a man who can “get anybody”—that they would try almost exclusively for younger women, and that therefore an older woman would hold no sex appeal for them… but for anybody not an alpha male… (especially 40-50YO average men), a 40YO woman would still hold some interest.
While mean sexual value is an important concept, as lukeprog points out with my graph, sometimes it is not relevant. The relevant metric of success in attracting people is something like “being over a cutoff of attractiveness for a subset of the population that you desire and that you can find, and where you don’t face a punishing gender ratio in that niche.”
For instance, regardless of your average attractiveness, you could be doing great even if 0.1% of the population is attracted to you, as long as (a) you know how to find them, (b) they fit your criteria, and (c) there isn’t an oversaturation of people like you that you’re competing with.
I don’t take Roissy all that seriously but have read quite a bit of his stuff. I’ve never understood him as comparing women’s value as people, but rather their sexual value or dating value from the perspective of the (sort of) median man.
The sexual value is something determined by “the sexual marketplace”. Sure some people like the less likeable, but they are pretty rare and thus on average the person with these traits will need to be less picky, since she/he runs into those interested in them less often.
Yep, I can understand that. though his phraseology is very clearly as though it is an inherent value of her worth as a (sexual) person… which is what I found so unappetising.
I also disagree with his valuation. I know from… well knowing 40 YO women (and older), that they do indeed suffer from diminished sexual appeal—but certainly nowhere near zero. 40YOlds get it on all the time… therefore his valuation is wrong. It is limited by his own personal perspective—and that of the average young-ish man who is himself high up on the “sexual appeal” rating.
I can definitely understand that for a man who can “get anybody”—that they would try almost exclusively for younger women, and that therefore an older woman would hold no sex appeal for them… but for anybody not an alpha male… (especially 40-50YO average men), a 40YO woman would still hold some interest.
Her “value” on the marketplace is not zero.
While mean sexual value is an important concept, as lukeprog points out with my graph, sometimes it is not relevant. The relevant metric of success in attracting people is something like “being over a cutoff of attractiveness for a subset of the population that you desire and that you can find, and where you don’t face a punishing gender ratio in that niche.”
For instance, regardless of your average attractiveness, you could be doing great even if 0.1% of the population is attracted to you, as long as (a) you know how to find them, (b) they fit your criteria, and (c) there isn’t an oversaturation of people like you that you’re competing with.