Men are great for some things but terrible for others. I don't mean to make sweeping generalizations, but most men are not good at any of those makeup things, for example, lipsticks. And it's not surprising that they're unable to recognize two similar colors of lipsticks which women can probably differentiate and apply with ease.
Try asking your partner to tell the difference between the above four lipsticks. I believe most of them will tell you, "They seem kinda different, but all red". This is hilarious, isn't it?
Studies suggest that there may be several reasons.
1. Different color vocabulary
According to the data collected, women tend to use more elaborate color names than men.
Color | Women | Men |
Red Color | Red | Red |
Light Coral |
Salmon |
Crimson |
Fire Brick |
Dark Red |
Indian Red |
Pink Color | Pink | Pink |
| Light Pink |
| Hot Pink |
| Deep Pink |
| Medium Violet Red |
| Pale Violet Red |
See the difference? Men are unlikely to use specific color names in general conversation like women.
2. Different hormone levels
Men are not that good at recognizing colors because the levels of testosterone (a sex hormone) in adult males are about 7 to 8 times as great as in adult females on average. Besides, men have more testosterone receptors than women, especially in the visual region of the cerebral cortex (the part of the brain that processes information from the senses).
Therefore, different hormone levels and numbers of receptors would result in differences in visual perception between men and women. These differences may be the reason why women can better distinguish tiny differences between colors than men.
While women can tell you emerald green is more saturated than pastel green, men are more sensitive to fine details and rapid movement. This suggests that men are better at reading a letter on an eye chart or recognizing a face.
3. Hunter-gatherer responsibilities
Human beings lived a hunter-gatherer life thousands of years ago. The hunters traveled the land to seek prey and the gatherers foraged for plant foods, berries, and nuts.
As hunters, men should be able to distinguish between predators and prey from afar. On the other hand, women should have a better close-range vision because they need to forage and gather wild foods from trees and bushes.
Although further research is necessary, the differences mentioned above may contribute to the visual differences between men and women. So next time, think twice before asking your husband or boyfriend to choose lipstick color for you, because this task is too difficult for him to complete!
