Weight worked much the same way. Overweight men were clearly less desirable to women. Thirty percent of female respondents found men more than 10 pounds overweight unacceptable as dates; 70 percent found more than 20 pounds overweight unacceptable; and at 40 pounds or more overweight, men were unacceptable to 90 percent of respondents.

Male participants were moderately concerned about their weight. About 63 percent would like to lose some weight; approximately half of them would be pleased with a 6-to-15 pound loss. Weight gain was an issue for another 19 percent, who wanted additional muscle mass.

Women, however, tended to be less critical of their partner's weight. Only 44 percent wanted their partner to lose weight, and half of these women would be happy with a modest 6-to-15 pound reduction. Thinner women tended to express more desire for their partners to trim down.

When respondents judged their own attractiveness, there was a major difference in how men and women viewed extra weight. Twenty-five percent of the men who rated themselves "very attractive" were overweight. But even modestly overweight women excluded themselves from this category: only 6 percent of very attractive women said they were too heavy.

Men and women also parted company in the domain of male muscle mass. Men value muscle mass, while women are less interested in oversized biceps and pecs. In ranking male body types, women gave first place to "medium with moderate muscle mass," while "medium with competition muscle mass" came in a lowly fourth. When men estimated women's preferences, however, competition body build narrowly missed second place.

We asked women directly, "how important it is for you that [a man] have noticeable muscles," and we asked men how important muscles were to them. The differences were striking: twice as many women as men said that male muscles did not matter at all.

Male fascination with muscles may have more to do with other men than with women. Men were aware that massive muscles were no major attraction to women. Only 27 percent agreed with the statement, "Men pictured in body-building magazines are attractive to most women." In fact, just 20 percent of women acknowledged finding body builders attractive.

Hair loss was a real concern for male respondents. Men with full heads of hair were a narrow majority (53 percent). Ironically, they were the most worried about hair loss: 38 percent indicated they would be "very upset" if they discovered they were rapidly losing hair. But anticipation may be worse than reality, since only 23 percent of men with thinning hair answered "very upset" on the same item. Older men also expressed less concern.

Apparently balding is easier to watch than experience, as women were relatively unconcerned about male hair loss. Of those whose partner had a full head of hair, only 13 percent would be "very upset" and 24 percent "somewhat upset" at the prospect of his hair thinning. A mere 18 percent of women whose partners had already lost some hair acknowledged being very or somewhat upset. Again, women may be adjusting their preferences to the realities of their mate.

Fifty-two percent of men thought women would endorse the statement, "I generally find bald men unattractive." Only 40 percent of women agreed, and they tended to be younger and more attractive. On the other hand, some women found bald men cute -- especially if their partner lacked an intact scalp. A 24-year-old stated, "In the past I never thought bald men were attractive. Only recently my opinion changed. My recent boyfriend keeps his head shaved and he is just adorable."