Men, Can you Tell If Other Men Are Good-Looking?

[Helen]

That is known as prosopagnosia, a.k.a. face-blindness. It is common among autistics (like me). I have a milder version. (That is why I keep a "head" collection.)

I looked a your heads...can you tell us how these help you? ( edit- whoops , just saw you tell bbyrd009 )
I remember in the distant past hearing about face-blindness...but I had forgotten it. I guess people that you ( and @bbyrd009 ) know personally you recognize by their voice?
Wow, it must be quite the handicap , ....especially if people who slightly 'know you' think that you are ignoring them!! OR have you developed a stance of being very friendly to everyone to cover it up?

I am good at remembering faces , band used to be good at remembering names to go with them...now as I am older I wait for a couple of sentences and hope I get a clue about who I am speaking to LOL

 

[Sabertooth]

I looked a you heads...can you tell us how these help you.

See post, Men, Can you Tell If Other Men Are Good-Looking?

I guess people that you ( and @bbyrd009 ) know personally you recognize by their voice?

I'm told there are three levels. I recognize people that I regularly associate with. It is a milder case. The longer I go without their contact or more sporadic, that recognition starts to wear off. Voice (on the phone) is pretty steady. I am told that we recognize one's gait, too.

@bbyrd009 , sounds like he has a worse case.

OR have you developed a stance of being very friendly to everyone to cover it up?

Yes. Conversation clues help, too. One bank manager used to live about a block away from us. She seemed to have a different skin-tone at the bank vs. at home.

 

[farouk]

One bank manager used to live about a block away from us. She seemed to have a different skin-tone at the bank vs. at home.

So how come? make up, I suppose?

Actually my wife does not feel dressed properly if she goes out without putting on her face.

 

[Sabertooth]

So how come?

Lighting...?

 

[farouk]

I looked a you heads...can you tell us how these help you.
I remember in the distant past hearing about face-blindness...but I had forgotten it. I guess people that you ( and @bbyrd009 ) know personally you recognize by their voice?
Wow, it must be quite the handicap , ....especially if people who slightly 'know you' think that you are ignoring them!! OR have you developed a stance of being very friendly to everyone to cover it up?

I am good at remembering faces , band used to be good at remembering names to go with them...now as I am older I wait for a couple of sentences and hope I get a clue about who I am speaking to LOL

It's not just me, then...

At a conference a while ago I walked up to three different people and either it was a case of mistaken identity or I got the name wrong... :)

(Glad it's not just me, then... :))

 

[farouk]

Lighting...?

Yes, I take the point also, there...

 

[Sabertooth]

I usually recognize celebrities on the covers of tabloids or on TV/film, but I heard that is because they maintain a signature look. (I wouldn't necessarily recognize them on the street, though.)

I can identify the sculpts in my collection, too. They have a fixed look, as well.

 

[farouk]

I have experienced not noticing a girl was pretty but then noticing it after she changed her hairstyle.

Leaving aside the aesthetics -which I won't comment on - it's sometimes the case that one can go to a church meeting and there seems to be young ladies there who I've not seen before...and then it turns out that one of them may be so and so whom we know: just that the hair is so bright and different now...

(A widespread occurrence, I'm sure...)

 

[Sabertooth]

(A widespread occurrence, I'm sure...)

That is more consistent with prosopagnosia.

 

[farouk]

That is more consistent with prosopagnosia.

I don't use words I can't spell...

 

[Sabertooth]

I don't use words I can't spell...

(a.k.a. face-blindness...)

 

[Helen]

I don't use words I can't spell...

 

[farouk]

@"ByGrace" I think men need to recognize the fact - even if they don't personally understand it - that many women are strongly of the understanding that putting on one's face before going out is entirely appropriate and compelling. This does not negate - and in fact can go side by side with - an emphasis on cultivating the inward and spiritual.

 

[Helen]

@"ByGrace" I think men need to recognize the fact - even if they don't personally understand it - that many women are strongly of the understanding that putting on one's face before going out is entirely appropriate and compelling. This does not negate - and in fact can go side by side with - an emphasis on cultivating the inward and spiritual.

With me the only 'face' I must put on is to darken my eyebrows.
I used to say that if the house was burning down I would still have the put on my eyebrows first!!! These days I don't care enough and been known to go with just my own grey eyebrows...'it's me' as-is.

But, no doubt we will get a flea-in-our-ear for derailing the thread...whoops!!

 

[farouk]

With me the only 'face' I must put on is to darken my eyebrows.
I used to say that if the house was burning down I would still have the put on my eyebrows first!!! These days I don't care enough and been known to go with just my own grey eyebrows...'it's me' as-is.

But, no doubt we will get a flea-in-our-ear for derailing the thread...whoops!!

Yes, I can understand that the perception that eyebrows need to be darkened can be widespread and can be felt in a deep-seated way. Maybe the granddaughter whom you mentioned who knows about tattoo parlors could accompany you to talk to them about the possibility of having the pigment put in permanently; then you wouldn't have the bother of doing it every time you go out. (2c...)

 

[Helen]

Maybe the granddaughter whom you mentioned who knows about tattoo parlors could accompany you to talk to them about the possibility of having the pigment put in permanently; then you wouldn't have the bother of doing it every time you go out. (2c...)

ference
Been there, done that...but they wont do it...they ask what meds a person is on...Im on Warfarin and it will vanish 24 hours after the Tat is done. My older daughter is on thyroid pills ...she paid hight $$$ to get hers done..it looked amazing ...24 hours it have GONE!! Mads make a lot of difference ...so honest tat artists will ask first .."what are you taking?"

 

[farouk]

ference
Been there, done that...but they wont do it...they ask what meds a person is on...Im on Warfarin and it will vanish 24 hours after the Tat is done. My older daughter is on thyroid pills ...she paid hight $$$ to get hers done..it looked amazing ...24 hours it have GONE!! Mads make a lot of difference ...so honest tat artists will ask first .."what are you taking?"

Well, there's an area that science and technology needs to keep working on to enhance and broaden what parlors can realistically and successfully do, right? I guess anyway the moral would be, among young women who might eventually want that particular procedure: go to the parlor to have it done while you're not yet taking meds that make it incompatible for now...

(I guess you were a bit disappointed, anyway, when the tattoo parlor ppl told you what they did...)

 

[farouk]

(I guess this thread is like a stream of consciousness theme...ought not to derail...)

 

[Pearl]

So, you two compare notes, too?

Yeh, but strictly on a look but don't touch basis.

 

[Nancy]

I'm not seeing responses to my poll, and I don't know how to fix the error with the wording.

Am I the only man here who has little to no perception of whether another man is (supposed to be) good-looking?

I do not feel like I am missing much. I know I am not the only one, but I am just wondering how rare it is.

Do you think that, being from the Western world many men have been so used to being told to "be a man", don't be a wuss"!! Or, "real men don't cry!" kind of shaped some men's view of how they are supposed to be? I know men who are sensitive to others who are as manly as any, and men who have the macho thing going on. Upbringing I think also plays a part. Me, being a woman can appreciate a handsome man but I can see beauty in woman as well. The most handsome men, to me would be (actors, of course ) : James Spader (now) George Clooney, Johnny Depp (Johnny, mostly because of his expressions, lol) Freddy Mercury (From the band Queen) but, only with short hair. As far as women, I think Catherine Zeta-Jones is the most beautiful, then Salma Hayek, Julianne Moore, Penlope Cruz. So, I think if we are secure in ourselves, we can at least appreciate a good looking "person". I know many men, past and present who will quickly pointing out how "ugly" another man is so, that tells me they are able to know an un- comely man yet, not a good looking one? I know people who would not traditionally be called handsome or beautiful who's personality and manner makes them attractive. JMHO :)