Modern WisdomWhy Do Women Take Sexy Selfies? - Dr Khandis Blake
CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 2:56
Sexy selfies as status-seeking (beyond “patriarchy made them do it”)
Dr. Khandis Blake reframes sexy selfies as a strategic status-seeking behavior rather than only a product of patriarchal oppression and self-objectification. She argues women often “own” beautification as a competitive tool within social hierarchies.
- •Dominant explanation: patriarchy → self-objectification
- •Alternative lens: women’s intrasexual competition and strategic self-presentation
- •Sexy selfies as an agentic, assertive bid for social status
- •Status-seeking motivations are underestimated in women
- 2:56 – 4:35
Why beauty is a major route to status for women
Chris and Dr. Blake unpack why beauty and attractiveness can function as a powerful status signal for women, historically and in modern settings. They also discuss “pretty privilege” and how attractiveness biases translate into real-world advantages.
- •Historical constraints: marriage and limited independent wealth shaped incentives
- •Men’s average preference for attractiveness affects mating markets
- •Halo effect/attractiveness bias: hiring, earnings, competence assumptions
- •Beauty investment can be an economically rational strategy
- 4:35 – 6:54
Why men post fewer sexy selfies: different status pathways
They explore sex differences in how status is obtained and displayed. Men may rely more on income, career, and other signals (cars, watches, trophies) whereas women more often use beautification as convertible “capital.”
- •Some attractiveness-bias effects are stronger for women; many are similar across sexes
- •Men often have additional socially sanctioned routes to status (especially income)
- •Population-level mate preferences: women value status more; men value attractiveness more
- •Male analogs of signaling: luxury goods and dominance displays
- 6:54 – 10:09
What predicts more sexy selfies: big-data evidence and inequality
Dr. Blake explains her large-scale social media approach (billions of geolocated tweets) to measure cultural trends. The standout predictor of more sexualized selfie behavior is income inequality; once accounted for, gender inequality loses predictive power.
- •Method: global geolocated Twitter data linked to national indicators
- •Sexy selfies increase in economically unequal environments
- •Initial gender-inequality correlation disappears when income inequality is included
- •Interpretation: sexualization tracks status competition pressures more than patriarchy
- 10:09 – 16:30
Why inequality intensifies competition: “keep up with the Joneses” dynamics
They connect economic inequality to heightened status anxiety for everyone, including the wealthy. For women, beauty becomes a salient form of capital to compete upward through mates and social networks.
- •Economic inequality raises status concerns broadly (fear of losing rank)
- •Women may invest in appearance to access higher-status mates
- •Beauty can build social capital: networks, advocates, protectors
- •Effects are subtle but cumulative (“1% improvements”)
- 16:30 – 17:41
Offline confirmation: cosmetics and salon spending rise with inequality
To avoid relying solely on online behavior, Dr. Blake describes using U.S. regional spending data. Beauty product and salon expenditures increase in more economically unequal counties/cities, mirroring the social media pattern.
- •Testing the online→offline assumption
- •US regional data: cosmetics purchases and salon spending as indicators
- •Economic inequality predicts higher beautification spending
- •Supports the broader status-competition account
- 17:41 – 22:14
Lab study: beautification can increase women’s felt assertiveness
Dr. Blake details experiments where women prepare either for a “hot date” or a casual hangout, then complete explicit and implicit measures of assertiveness. Women in the hot-date condition show higher assertiveness, suggesting beautification can be empowering/agentic.
- •Experimental manipulation: hot-date prep vs friends/hangout prep
- •Measures: self-report assertiveness plus implicit reaction-time tasks
- •Hot-date beautification increases explicit and implicit assertiveness
- •Reframes beautification as strategic and psychologically activating
- 22:14 – 29:13
Do sex ratios drive beautification? Null results and possible reasons
They examine whether local sex ratios (more men vs more women) change women’s interest in appearance or sexy selfies. Across correlational and experimental approaches, Dr. Blake finds no effect and offers explanations tied to sex-ratio research limitations and differing mating trade-offs.
- •No sex-ratio effect found in big-data selfie analyses
- •No effect in experiments priming “man drought/woman drought” contexts
- •Sex-ratio findings often correlational; fewer experimental tests exist
- •Sex-ratio effects may alter men’s behavior more due to quantity vs quality trade-offs
- 29:13 – 34:58
Simulation models of mating markets: why poorer men and rich women struggle
Dr. Blake walks through a simulation study modeling income inequality, gender inequality, and hypergyny/hypergamy. Key outcomes: pairing success becomes structurally harder for poorer men and also for high-income women, especially under greater equality and higher income inequality.
- •Simulation approach: modeled actors with assigned incomes and inequality parameters
- •Hypergyny/hypergamy: women tend to pair “up” (or marry up)
- •Disadvantaged groups: poorer men and rich women show reduced pairing success
- •Income inequality worsens these mismatches; gender inequality can mask them
- 34:58 – 44:55
Should we worry about the future dating market? Adaptation, policy, and reframing
Chris presents bleak demographic and social trends; Dr. Blake is more optimistic about human behavioral flexibility and “arms race” adaptation. They discuss indirect interventions: reducing income inequality and broadening what men can offer (e.g., parenting value), plus lowering adversarial framing between sexes.
- •Humans adapt behaviorally; mating pressures drive innovation and compromise
- •Educational hypergamy appears to relax; income hypergamy remains strong
- •Potential interventions: reduce income inequality; elevate parenting/family value
- •Need to support disadvantaged men without dismissing their lived constraints
- 44:55 – 50:43
Incels, stability, and security: from mental health to geopolitical consequences
They broaden the conversation from personal dating outcomes to societal risk. Dr. Blake highlights mental health and neurodivergence prevalence among incel-identifying men, and argues mating-market obstruction can fuel violence and recruitment into extremist movements, especially in polygynous contexts.
- •Incel-linked burdens: depression, anxiety, neurodivergence are elevated
- •Sex and partnering tie strongly to self-worth for many men
- •Mating-market obstructions can increase violence and instability
- •Examples: bride price, polygyny, and extremist recruitment incentives (e.g., promises of wives/jobs)
- 50:43 – 56:53
The “West incel crisis” and Williamson’s Sedation Hypothesis (porn & games as outlets)
Chris questions why rising sexlessness hasn’t produced more overt violence and proposes “sedation” via pornography, video games, and substances. Dr. Blake supports parts of the idea, adds research on video games and dominance/mate value, and cautions against assuming disruption is the only outlet.
- •Observed violence by reactionary incels exists but is lower than expected given sexlessness trends
- •Hypothesis: porn/games provide substitute status/sexual rewards that dampen unrest
- •Video game research: dominance practice; losing to women increases male aggression
- •Additional coping channels exist beyond societal disruption
- 56:53 – 1:03:47
Tracking misogyny online to predict offline harm (and possible ‘Minority Report’ prevention)
Dr. Blake describes findings linking income inequality and narrowing gender-earnings gaps to more incel ideology online. She also reports that increases in misogynistic social media discourse predict later rises in domestic/family violence, suggesting potential for early-warning monitoring and targeted resources.
- •Income inequality predicts greater prevalence of incel ideology
- •Eroding male earnings advantage correlates with more incel ideology
- •Misogynistic chatter predicts domestic/family violence with lagged effects
- •Policy implication: track sentiment to anticipate and allocate interventions
- 1:03:47 – 1:10:55
Self-improvement and mate value: constraints, trade-offs, and reducing sex-vs-sex antagonism
Chris and Dr. Blake debate whether it’s easier for men or women to raise mate value and discuss structural issues (education gaps, labor force participation, aging/appearance norms). They converge on the need to reduce moralistic, adversarial narratives and improve public understanding of evolutionary ‘arms race’ dynamics without turning it into ideology.
- •Men may improve via career/status; women face aging/beauty pressures (and vice versa)
- •Different ‘easy wins’ exist (e.g., appearance hacks vs long-term earnings)
- •Toxic internet framing hardens into ideology and blocks learning
- •Better evolutionary literacy may reduce demonization and gender moralism
- 1:10:55 – 1:18:12
Dr. Blake’s path: gender studies → evolutionary psychology (and what camps miss)
Dr. Blake recounts moving from gender studies and coaching into psychology after discovering evolutionary frameworks she felt were absent from her earlier education. She argues both sociocultural and biological camps can be closed-minded, and emphasizes integrating biology and culture—especially recognizing plasticity and individual incentives over group narratives.
- •Discovery moment: evolutionary psych explained sexual conflict, patriarchy patterns, mate value
- •Frustration with single-framework training; commitment to integrate nature+nurture
- •Critique: victim/oppressor framing overlooks individual-level variation and incentives
- •Culture and biology interact; humans are highly responsive (plastic)
- 1:18:12 – 1:18:54
Where to follow Dr. Blake + show close
They wrap with where listeners can find Dr. Blake’s work and lab resources. The episode ends with Chris’s outro and subscription prompt.
- •Follow Dr. Blake on Twitter for papers and updates
- •Find the Evolution Lab via Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences
- •Chris thanks the guest and closes the episode
