14 DAY TRIAL // Scientists at the Aberdeen University, UK, led by the psychologist Benedict Jones, have studied the way women who have not yet reached menopause react to other genuinely beautiful women. The results of the research proved that women still able to give birth considered the women in the photos presented to them less attractive than they actually were. "It's almost as if they're putting down other attractive women," states Jones.
Until now, the way women reacted in the presence of men was studied in relation to the most prominent features in these, as they were considered to be those with the greatest potential to attract. This is probably one of the first studies of the kind to focus on the type of rivalry that is established between equally fertile women.
The subjects of the study – 97 women, aged from 40 to 64 – were presented the photos of 40 persons, both male and female, and their digitally manipulated versions, and were asked to compare and evaluate them. Computer specialists, assisted by psychologists, had previously enhanced either the more masculine features or the feminine ones in some photos.
As expected, all queried women saw men with a wider jaw and thick brows as more attractive. However, when it came to “rating” women, the faces that would have otherwise been deemed more feminine (that is, those with wider eyes and arched eyebrows) came in last, being rated as less attractive by still fertile women, as opposed to those who had already reached menopause.
In conclusion, Jones says that, "It's quite well established that as women go through menopause. they shift from a mating-oriented mindset to more family-oriented mindset". Yet, the scientist does not fully agree with the fact that female behavior and the competition a woman may feel towards others is best illustrated by her apparent “envy” or “jealousy” on the natural beauty of another.