William Quincy Belle: Sex: Men stare at women. Who knew?

Men will spend almost one year of their lives ogling women, while women will spend nearly the same amount of time deciding what clothes to wear, according to some 2009 surveys done in the UK by OnePoll, a British firm specialising in surveying people for market research.

Britain’s Kodak Lens Vision Centres commissioned the first poll to study 3,000 people about eyesight and ended up with the following stats.

Heterosexual men spend almost one full year of their entire lives, as they said, "ogling" women. The average guy will spend almost 43 minutes a day eyeing-up ten different women. That adds up to 259 hours - almost 11 days - each year, making a total 11 months and 11 days between the ages of 18 and 50.

Heterosexual women also admire the opposite sex but researchers discovered the bar was set lower: women sneak a peek at six men for just over 20 minutes a day. That's almost six months admiring men from afar between the ages of 18 and 50.

One could say that men have a harder time trying to impress the ladies as the ladies are only looking at them half the time.

The most popular places for checking out the opposite sex by sex reveals some striking differences and similarities.

Top five spots men look at women

Supermarket
Pub/bar
Nightclub
Work
Shops

Top five places women look at men

Pub/bar
Shops
On public transport
Supermarket
Work

Who likes to be stared at? The majority of men and women feel flattered being the subject of attention but guys are more likely to enjoy it with 19 per cent saying it makes them feel happy, compared to just nine per cent of women. 6 per cent of girls feel uncomfortable, while 20 per cent say it embarrasses them.

For women, over 40 per cent of them, a man's eyes are the first thing they look at. For men, it's a woman's figure.

Apparently more than half of those surveyed had been embarrassed by being caught eyeing someone up. A third of those folk have ended up arguing with their other half over their roving eye and one in ten have even split up with a partner because of their constant roving eyes.

35 per cent of Brits saying they started a relationship with someone they eyed-up.

The study also found that more than a third of Brits would miss being able to admire the opposite sex if they couldn't see, whilst another 71 per cent would miss their partner's face.

Oh, the survey was supposed to be about eyesight - after all it was sponsored by the Kodak Lens Vision Centres - and it also included these numbers;

61 per cent of people are worried about their eyesight fading.
Despite this, two thirds admit they don't prioritise the health of their eyes, and 38 per cent haven't had their eyes tested for over two years.

What to wear
The clothier Matalan commissioned a separate poll of nearly 2,500 females in the UK which determined that women will spend almost one year of their lives deciding what to wear. On average, a female will spend 287 days of her life rifling through her wardrobe. The one-year projection is based on an adult lifetime that spans from ages 16 to 60.

The study did not investigate how much time men spend choosing clothes.

Final Word
I note that the study uses the word "ogle" but doesn't make the distinction between an ogle, a stare and the quick but respectful glance. Is it me? I thought a gentleman casts an admiring glance while a pervert ogles. (Old joke: It's only a leer if the woman is not interested.)

"35 per cent of Brits saying they started a relationship with someone they eyed-up." Staring works? Is the other 65 per cent equally divided up amongst call the cops, pepper spray and a quick kick to the groin?

Men stare at chicks at the supermarket? Hmmm, now that I think of it, the ladies are quite occupied in selecting the right produce so what better time to steal a glance or maybe a long impolite I'm-getting-out-my-can-of-Mace ogle. If anybody looks at the surveillance tapes, they'll find out that while I'm holding a cantaloupe as if I am trying to determine if it's too ripe or not, I am actually stealing a long uninterrupted glance at the MILF in aisle 6.

I'm certain social scientists have a field day with this sort of stuff. Maybe some critics of the male gender also find this fodder for analysing male behaviour as errant and irredeemable. In my blog Sex: Men are from Mars, I point out the old saying:

If a man isn't having sex, he's talking about sex.
If a man isn't talking about sex, he's thinking about sex.
And if a man isn't thinking about sex, he's dead.

Are men hard-wired? Is the Coolidge Effect true?

Then again, the results show that women are looking to; maybe only half as much but does that show "hard-wiring" or cultural differences? (women are supposed to be more modest, less aggressive than men) Who knows?

I wonder how many tombstones are out there with the inscription:

Here lies John Doe who spent a full year ogling women but wished it could have been more.

References

One Poll: August 4, 2009
Men spend almost ONE YEAR of their lives ogling women

One Poll: July 9, 2009
Women will spend almost ONE YEAR of their lives deciding what to wear

One Poll: archive of press releases

Wikipedia: One Poll
OnePoll is a survey-led marketing research company specialising in online and mobile polling. It has offices in London, UK and Bristol, UK. The company is owned by PR and marketing firm 72 Point and forms part of the South West News Service (SWNS) Group, the UK's largest independent press agency and newswire service. The firm has an online and iPhone panel of over 100,000 Britons ranging across all demographics. Panel members are paid for completing surveys, which typically contain between 10 and 20 questions. OnePoll has carried out projects for brands including Philips, Travelodge and Halifax.

my blog: Sex: Cleavage

Afterword: Let's not forget that no means no.
my blog: Justice Robert Dewar: rape is inconsiderate

2011-02-26

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