How "beardedness" affects women's attraction to men

io9.gizmodo.com

To many authors it appears designing a protagonist is a process of making them über-masculine, often to the point of parody.  What this research points out is that a man with a beard is seen by most women as a better match than the hyper-masculine.  Or the almost feminine.  A small point perhaps, but something to consider.

How beardedness affects women's attraction to men

"Extremely masculine and extremely feminine-looking males were least attractive."

New research suggests that women tend to find beardedness attractive when judging long-term relationships, perhaps as a signal of formidability among males and the potential to provide direct benefits, such as enhanced fertility and survival, to females.

For the study, investigators used computer graphic manipulation to morph male faces varying in facial hair from clean-shaven, light stubble, heavy stubble, and full beards, with additional differences in brow ridge, cheekbones, jawline, and other features so that the same man appeared more or less masculine.

When women viewed the images, masculinized and, to an even greater extent, feminized faces were less attractive than unmanipulated faces when all were clean-shaven. Stubble was judged as most attractive overall and received higher ratings for short-term relationships than full beards, which were more attractive for long-term relationships. Extremely masculine and extremely feminine-looking males were least attractive, irrespective of relationship context.

"Sexual selection via female choice has shaped the evolution of male ornamentation in many species," wrote the authors of the Journal of Evolutionary Biology study.

Story Source: Materials provided by Wiley.  B. J. W. Dixson, D. Sulikowski, A. Gouda-Vossos, M. J. Rantala, R. C. Brooks. The masculinity paradox: facial masculinity and beardedness interact to determine women's ratings of men's facial attractiveness. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 2016.

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Should gay candidates come out of the (political) closet? Study says yes

www.uc.edu

Should gay candidates come out of the

(political) closet? Study says yes

"LGBT elected officials make tremendous public servants because

they are painfully aware of the impact policies have on people's lives."

A political science researcher finds that the sexual orientation of LGBT candidates no longer poses an impediment to being elected to public office -- and, in some cases, may actually help them win.  Drastic shifts in public opinion in the last decade have seen an uptick in gay and lesbian candidates running for -- and winning -- public office as never before.

But experts often advise even openly gay and lesbian candidates to downplay their sexual orientation or risk losing votes.

Now, a new study by David Niven, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Cincinnati, calls that advice into question.

The research suggests that not only does a gay or lesbian candidate's sexual orientation no longer pose a political disadvantage, but that, in some cases, it may actually help them win office.

"Our results call into question the always and everywhere assumption that running as a gay or lesbian candidate is necessarily a hurdle that must be overcome," said Niven.

LGBT candidates are often advised to downplay their sexual orientation for good reason, says Niven. He points to an established body of research documenting how a candidate's sexual orientation can be an impediment to higher office.

"All the research that we have says you have to overcome and to downplay it," he said.

That conclusion, based largely on surveys, offers subjective and interpretive data on how voters react to fictional or hypothetical candidates, but little in the way of how voters respond to actual candidates once they're in a private voting booth, Niven said.

So he decided to test the theory in a real race, with real voters casting ballots for real candidates. Enter the 2016 March primary race for county recorder in Ohio's Franklin County, which includes Columbus.

The Study
Two Democratic candidates vied for the position: Incumbent Terry Brown, an openly gay man seeking his second term in office, and challenger Danny O'Connor, who is straight.

The match-up proved an ideal field study, said Niven. While Brown's website features a photograph of him and his husband, neither he, his opponent nor the "Democrats United" ticket both candidates ran with referenced Brown's sexual orientation or interests in advancing civil rights issues.

Moreover, the low-key race for county recorder drew only minimal media attention, none of which identified Brown as gay, said Niven.

Niven randomly chose 30 precincts for the study. Because most gay and lesbian candidates tend to compete in places where Democrats are likely to win, he said, only households with a registered Democrat in residence were included.

Fifteen of the precincts received one of three 4x6 glossy postcards featuring Brown, while the other half, serving as a control group, received no mailing.

• The first mailer featured a photograph of Brown and listed his efforts to save taxpayer money, improve the efficiency of the recorder's office and commitment to stamping out real estate fraud.
• A second mailer included the same campaign claims, but featured a photograph of the candidate and his husband.
• A third mailing repeated the claims of the previous two and included the same photograph as in the second mailing, but added an additional claim of the candidate's commitment to marriage equality for gay people. 

The Results
Brown ultimately lost the race to O'Connor, but not because of his sexual orientation or commitment to marriage equality, says Niven.

According to the study, Brown actually received slightly less votes from voters who received the first mailer (which included only a photo of him) than he did from those in the control group who didn't receive any mailers.

Swapping a mailer featuring a photograph of the candidate with one of Brown and his husband produced slightly more votes, comparable to those of the control group. That increase, while negligible, speaks volumes, said Niven.

"Study after study suggests there is some kind of penalty gay and lesbian candidates are subject to without exception. That decidedly did not happen here," he concluded.

The results of the third condition, in which voters received a mailer featuring a photograph of the candidate and his husband and listing his commitment to marriage equality, also defied conventional campaign wisdom, says Niven.

In that scenario, Brown received more than four percent more votes than he did in all of the other scenarios.

"A lot of races are won on four percent," said Niven. "This is a pretty startling jump in terms of getting people's attention in a race they wouldn't otherwise give two thoughts about."

Niven says the results strongly suggest that emphasizing Brown's commitment to the rights of gay and lesbian people gave him a political edge.

"He's not just filing deeds, he's on the front lines of the civil rights struggle," he explained. "This is what was compelling to people."

Building Political Power

Niven acknowledges the limitations of the study, which focused on how Democratic voters in a specific region responded in one race. He's planning a follow-up study of the wider electorate this fall.

Nonetheless, he says the data indicates that the nation might be closer to a state of post-gay politics than some realize.

"When candidates hide or downplay their sexual orientation, it sends a message that significant barriers remain for gay and lesbian candidates," Niven said. "This study shows they might be hiding from a reality that isn't as bad as they think."

That comes as welcome news to Aisha C. Moodie-Mills, president and CEO of the Victory Fund, a nonpartisan organization that supports openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender candidates running for public office.

She said the study indicates a growing appreciation amongst voters for LGBT candidates who are open about their lives and policy positions.

"LGBT elected officials make tremendous public servants because they are painfully aware of the impact policies have on people's lives, and therefore think critically about the issues confronting them," she said. "This research offers important insights into the advantages of being an openly LGBT candidate in certain political environments, and provides a fresh perspective on strategies for building long-term political power."

Story Source: Materials provided by University of Cincinnati, original written by Rachel Richardson. "Should gay candidates come out of the (political) closet? Study says yes." ScienceDaily, 12 September 2016. 

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350th Anniversary of the Great Fire of London

www.express.co.uk  

Scene from the "Great fire of London" in ITV's new series

Destruction of Old St Paul's Cathedral highlights

devastating impact of Great Fire of London

“Thus lay in ashes that most venerable Church, one of the 

most antient pieces of early piety in the Christian world” 

                                                                    – Writer John Evelyn, 7 September 1666

"Thus lay in ashes that most venerable Church, one of the most antient pieces of early piety in the Christian world," wrote John Evelyn in September 1666. On the 350th anniversary of the fire, to mark the occasion, the University of Leicester Special Collections has made available a number of contemporary eye-witness accounts held within the University archives that illustrate the damage caused to the great historical and religious site of Old St Paul's, as well as highlighting some of its previous unfortunate encounters with fire.

In 1666 the Great Fire of London burned its way through the city, displacing thousands of residents and destroying many buildings - including Old St Paul’s Cathedral.

On the 350th anniversary of the fire, to mark the occasion, the University of Leicester Special Collections has made available a number of contemporary eye-witness accounts held within the University archives that illustrate the damage caused to the great historical and religious site of Old St Paul’s – as well as highlighting some of its previous unfortunate encounters with fire.


The Great Fire of London lasted between Sunday 2 September to Wednesday 5 September 1666, causing unprecedented damage to the historical city of London.

Diarist and writer John Evelyn provided a vivid eye-witness account of the tragedy on Tuesday 4 September, 1666, writing: “The stones of Paules flew like granados, ye mealting lead running downe the streets in a streame, and the very pavements glowing with fiery rednesse …”

Evelyn wrote again of the wreckage in the aftermath of the Great Fire on Friday 7 September while walking from Whitehall to London Bridge, stating that he passed by the rubble of St Paul’s: “With extraordinary difficulty, clambering over heaps of yet smoking rubbish, and frequently mistaking where I was.

“The ground under my feete so hot, that it even burnt the soles of my shoes’.  That goodly Church St. Paules now a sad ruine, and that beautiful portico … now rent in pieces, flakes of vast stone split asunder …

“It was astonishing to see what immense stones the heate had in a manner calcin’d, so that all the ornaments, columns, freezes, capitals, and projectures of massie Portland-stone flew off, even to the very roofe, where a sheet of lead covering a great space … was total mealted …

“Thus lay in ashes that most venerable Church, one of the most antient pieces of early piety in the Christian world.”

The construction of Old St Paul’s had begun after another fire in 1087, which completely destroyed an Anglo-Saxon church on the same site.

Work on the Cathedral continued for over 200 years, temporarily interrupted by yet another fire in 1135.

The building was enlarged over the years and by the mid-14th century had become, according to later sources, ‘the finest in England in its time’.

The building inspired awe, with its 489 feet high spire and magnificent nave, known as Paul’s Walk, which was 586 feet in length.

The old Cathedral’s greatest glory was arguably the Shrine of St Erkenwald, a popular destination for medieval pilgrims. Many miracles were believed to have occurred after petitioners visited the Shrine.

Old St Paul’s also housed the tombs of many influential figures from history – among them, Ethelred the Unready and the great portrait painter Van Dyck - and was the scene of dramatic and formative events – such as a Thanksgiving Service in 1588 attended by Elizabeth I, after her victory over the Armada.

Architect Christopher Wren, who had plans to repair and restore parts of the Cathedral prior to the Great Fire of London, went on to design the present-day Cathedral, which was completed in 1710 and remained the tallest building in London until the 1960s.

Library Assistant Margaret Maclean from the University of Leicester said: “In the early years of the University (or University College, as it was initially), gifts from private benefactors were crucial to enhancing the reputation of the library, especially in terms of rare books.  The source material for this piece about Old St Paul’s was donated by two of our most notable benefactors, Thomas Hatton and Basil Fairclough. A wealthy local bootmaker, Hatton was an extraordinary man, who, in addition to being a book lover, succeeded as a boxing promoter, founded a crossword-puzzle company, introduced greyhound racing to Leicester and became a leading authority on Charles Dickens. Fairclough began his remarkable collection of 17th century portraiture and books as soon as he left school in 1925 and his enthusiasm remained undimmed until his 70s, when he enrolled on an Open University course on that period.

“Any effort required to get past difficulties presented by the use of contemporary language and spelling (which is often much less than you might expect) is more than rewarded by the freshness and immediacy of the accounts of those who experienced the Great Fire first hand.”

Story Source:  Materials provided by University of Leicester.  Destruction of Old St Paul's Cathedral highlights devastating impact of Great Fire of London." ScienceDaily, 1 September 2016

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