Men Spend 43 Minutes a Day Staring at Women

All those who ever got into a fight with their partner for catching him or her eyeing up someone else (perhaps someone they considered more attractive than them) must know they have overreacted a bit. A new study performed in the UK shows that an average man will spend 43 minutes of his day ogling 10 different women, while the ladies themselves spend an average of 20 minutes doing the same, as The Telegraph can confirm.

Men like to look at women, and women like to look at men, and this eyeing up thing remains one of their favorite flirts, the findings of the study indicate. While the gents like to focus on more “specific” things, like a woman’s figure or distinct parts of her anatomy, women usually look first at a man’s eyes or his face, researchers have found. Both, however, hope eye contact will lead to something more, except in those cases when they’re already in a serious relationship and they gaze or downright stare at someone else almost involuntarily.

Speaking strictly numbers, researchers have found that, if a man looks at women for 43 minutes a day, it adds up to 259 hours a year, which, in turn, translates into 11 months and 11 days between the ages of 18 and 50. Similarly, women too spend a lot of time looking at men, although they cut it almost in half: 20 minutes a day, which adds up to six months between the same ages. As noted above, the things they focus on first also differ from men to women, with the gents looking at the figure first and women at the eyes.

“Men are renowned for looking at women but it’s interesting to find out exactly how long they spend eyeing girls up. A year of their life is a long time to spend with their eyes fixed on [women]. However, men have their work cut out if they are going to impress a woman as they spend half the amount of time gazing at guys.” Mark Ireland, spokesman for Kodak Lens Vision Centres, which commissioned the study, explains for The Telegraph.

The same poll also revealed that men size women up in places like supermarkets, clubs and bars, while women prefer those locations that offer them the strategic advantage, such as a bar or a terrace. Moreover, most men feel “happy” when they see a woman checking them up, while women’s reactions differ: some are flattered by it, 16 percent feel uncomfortable, and 20 percent say being eyed up is a completely embarrassing experience.