Hello all:

I wanted to have a discussion centered around the recent posts asking men and women to post pics of what they consider to be the "average" opposite sex.

What I noticed is that everyone has their own interpretations and opinions of what people find to be "average." However, another thing that I noticed is that people tend to misinterpret what "average" really means.

"Average" does not mean the MEDIAN, or middle, which would be a "5." Average is the sum of every person's subjectively assigned numbers divided by the total number of people.

Of course, since we cannot view every picture of every person in the world, or in the US, because that would be too laborious and time-consuming, we will only assign numbers based on our personal genetic preferences, as well as use that as the criteria to compare and contrast the men and women that we've seen in our lives to arrive at a (personal) standard for an "average" appearance.

That being said, the "average man" and the "average woman" are not what we personally rate as "5's," and I feel that if we were to actually "crunch the numbers," the "average" woman (in the US) would fall somewhere in between a "5.5" and a "6.5," whereas the "average" man would fall somewhere between a "4.5" and a "5.5." This would place the "average woman" in the "high-average" or "low above-average" category, and the "average man" in the "high below-average" or "high-average" category.

This is my personal opinion so you don't have to agree with me, but I would like to hear your opinions on whether or not you agree.

Now, for the questions:

  • Upon viewing both posts, did you find the pictures posted were more attractive than what you would consider to be "average" for either side?

  • How did both posts affect your views of what people consider to be "average" for either side?

  • Do you feel that the majority of posts reflected what you would consider to be the "average man/woman?"

  • Taking these posts into consideration, do you feel that the pics provided were representative of what really is and what isn't "attractive?" If not, does it really matter what other people find to be "attractive" and "unattractive" then?

Thank you, and have a great day.

P.S.- Mods, when is the next purge?

EDIT: To clarify, when speaking subjectively with regard to someone who is "average," yes, that would mean the median (or middle of the range/a "5"). However, when speaking with regard to the "average man/woman" being attractive, we're speaking in more objective than subjective terms.

Basically, my "5" may or may not be different from what other people would consider a "5." These are subjective averages. Conversely, if men or women are asked whether or not the true "average man/woman" is attractive, I would say that my numbers above would somewhat reflect the answers to those questions, which is that the "average man" isn't very attractive, while the "average woman" is somewhat fairly attractive.