Rather I should have said "saw on msn.com".
Here is the link to the video:
What do women want? - Bing Videos
It was featured on my msn homepage but it is a bing thing.
The video lists the sources for the numbers it gives in tiny-ass print.
The "92% of women prefer their men clean shaven" is listed as coming from Esquire magazine. Yet that same magazine has articles up that say that women prefer light stubble to clean shaven (
Women Prefer Stubble - Best Facial Hair to Attact Women - Esquire)
That study comes from here (
The Shave She Thinks Is Sexiest | Men's Health News) which mentions it's based on a study from "Northumbria university". Digging around finds some more details about that study here (
Women prefer men with stubble for love, sex and marriage - Telegraph) and some useful context.
"Faces with
full beards were judged to be the most masculine, aggressive, and socially mature. They were also thought to look five years older.
They were rated the least attractive and the worse choice for a short-term relationship. Men with
light beards were considered the most dominant. Those with
light stubble were rated the most attractive and as the ideal romantic partner for the short or long term.
Clean-shaven men finished bottom for masculinity, dominance, aggression, and social maturity, and were the least favoured choice as a long-term partner. They came second-to-last for attractiveness."
That last bolded part is the really important bit because somehow Esquire took a study which says that women think that on the basis of looks, are least likely to be interested in a clean shaven man, and turn around and say 92% of men prefer their men clean shaven.
*cough* *bullshit* *cough* THey combined the clean shaven result with the stubble result, but it's clear that clean shaven ranks at the bottom in near every category.
It's also important to note the distinction between full beard (let's call this desert nomad / biker style) and a light beard (what any respectable guy wears which is a nice, neatly groomed display of facial hair). There are two types of beard in that study, one of which fares poorly for questions about short/long term relationships (but still better than clean shaven), but one other beard style which rates much higher.
But anyways, if you want to treat this study as gospel, and are interested in blindly maximizing your dating opportunities rather than wearing what you think looks & feels best on you, then go for stubble, not clean shaven.
The figures about % of women who prefer a hairless chest comes from a University in Slovakia. There's some more details about that study here (
Why Women Don't Fall for Hairy Guys Remains a Scientific Mystery | LiveScience), but the important bit comes at the end:
"Earlier studies suggested women's
hair preferences do differ by country and even U.S. state, with women in the African nation of Cameroon, for example, preferring hairier guys, while women in China, New Zealand and California went for a bare look. "
Which is to say, these preferences are tied to local culture, and unless you're planning to date women in Slovakia, if you want to maximize your dating opportunities you should find out what the local preference is rather than somewhere across the Ocean.
You may ask yourself why I took so much time to refute this stupid Bing video, and to that, all I can say is this:
http://xkcd.com/386/
