The Ladder Theory of Attraction— Expanded

When I was in high school, I remember a friend of mine posting on her personal website a link to the “Ladder Theory” of attraction, which discussed the differences between differing traits in male and female attraction. She was bisexual, so she felt uniquely positioned to comment on it.

Caveat: This article isn’t meant to say “all” of any group is like this- it’s simply to highlight some trends. This theory has obviously fallen in popularity due to its oversimplicity, but the purpose of my article is to highlight something I found useful from it.

Men’s Ladder

In this theory, men have a ladder. Every woman they meet is placed somewhere on the ladder in terms of her attractiveness. The higher she is placed on the ladder, the more attractive she is to the man and the more willing he is to have a relationship with her.

The attraction is not simply physical attraction, but all-encompassing; a supermodel who can’t be trusted to be loyal will drop in the ranks. Your wife who you still adore, even in old age, will rise.

Ladders are typically specified in terms of height. However, perhaps it is more useful to think of the men’s ladder as time. One way to look at it is, “How long would it take for the man to want a relationship with the woman, if they were stranded on a deserted island together?”

How many romantic comedies are based on that premise? Two people who hate each other end up in some dumb circumstance where they…