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Culture War Roundup for the week of July 3, 2023

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It seems likely that for every step you take forward in self-improvement you will take another two steps back through aging.

Going to push back on this. While you will be hard-pressed trying to find a straight man who finds a 35-year-old woman more attractive than her 22-year-old sister, age is nowhere near as much of a demerit for straight women. If, as was recently argued here, men tend to go for looks while women go for status, it makes sense that women would tend to find older men more attractive than younger men, as they've had additional years to accrue wealth, experience and knowledge. It makes sense from an evolutionary perspective, as a 50-year-old man is just as capable of impregnating a woman as a 25-year-old man (albeit the former's child is at greater risk of birth defects).

If looking for a one-night stand, women might well go for the dumb broke 22-year-old barman over the smart, ugly 37-year-old hedge fund manager. If looking for a husband? I think it's a very different story. (Redpill/blackpill essentially acknowledge this with the "alpha fucks/beta bucks" framing.)

Here's an article on the phenomenon:

In the study, men’s desirability peaks at age 50. But women’s desirability starts high at age 18 and falls throughout their lifespan.

A graph which is incredibly encouraging for men and incredibly disheartening for women.

... “But I was also surprised to see how flat men’s desirability was over the age distribution,” [Bruch] said. “For men, it peaks around age 40 or 50. Especially in New York.”