Sex & Gender Virile men preferred sexier in disease-ridden societies

A new study by Ben Jones and Lisa DeBruine of Aberdeen University, in Scotland, determined that a man's virility was perceived as attractive by women from countries with poor health conditions, while effeminate men were more competitive in developed and healthy societies.

National health indexes were compared to the admitted preference of women for more masculine types. There was a strong correlation between high masculinity preferences and low health index.

Dienekes' blog : Preference for masculine/feminine-looking men and national health

The Economist : Face off - A disease-free society helps effeminate men attract women

Economist said:

In a man, the craggy physical characteristics associated with masculinity often indicate a strong immune system and thus a likelihood of his producing healthier offspring than his softer-featured confrères will. But such men are also more promiscuous and do not care as much about long-term relationships, leaving women to raise their kids alone.
...
Neither wealth nor mating pattern had much impact on women’s preferences for manly men. Disease rates, by contrast, seemed to be directly related to how they went about choosing a mate—the healthier the society, the less women valued masculinity. Hygiene and wimps, it seems, go hand in hand.

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This does raise questions. Africa has always been more disease-prone than more temperate parts of the world, so it is unsurprising that African men should look particularly manly (all the more the West Africa, where diseases are the most rampant, but less so in more temperate Namibia or Ethiopia).

How comes then that East Asians and South Asians are so feminine compared to Europeans, Middle Easterners or Africans ? Many of Eurasia's most deadly diseases originated in China (e.g. plague), and yet Chinese men are not as strongly built as Europeans. Has East Asia a better historical health record than Europe ? I doubt so.

Second issue, what does it mean to be manly or effeminate ? David Beckham is usually categorised as a "cute" type (as opposed to "macho"). But does that make him an effeminate man ? He is after all one of Britain's top athletes, in a sport known for its manly values. The boundary between 'cute' and 'feminine' is not always clear.

First of all we should know what it is to be Manly.
Something considered manly in a society may not be considered as such in other societies..