How did a worldwide pandemic affect our perception of attractiveness as a society?
We know that online dating usage surged from late 2019 to 2022, as lockdowns and isolation took a global loneliness tax on almost everyone.
Meanwhile, our screens were flooded with healthcare workers bravely putting themselves on the frontlines while the vast majority of us cheered them on from the safety of our homes.
Ten years ago, a trophy supermodel or dashing firefighter may have been many Aussies’ best guess for the nation’s pick of hottest profession.
However, according to a recent study by eHarmony, many toned abs have been traded in for a set of scrubs and a caring, can-do attitude.
Nurses were voted the number one most attractive profession according to Australian men, beating out models, flight attendants, teachers, and, interestingly, doctors at number five most attractive.
Meanwhile, Aussie women voted ‘doctor’ as the number one most attractive profession, followed by tradie, firefighter, engineer, and lawyer.
Has COVID-19 made us feverish for partners who can take care of us?
eHarmony psychologist Sharon Draper says, “We commonly associate traits with certain careers; nurses are caring, lawyers are strong-willed and so forth.
“We then use these traits to make judgements about a potential partner and our compatibility with them.”
According to the research, around four out of 10 Aussies (42 per cent) agree that someone’s job can influence their attractiveness.
It doesn’t stop there, however; over a quarter (27 per cent) of respondents admitted to considering whether a particular job might give their own perceived hotness a boost when applying for a new role.
“Not only does someone’s job tell you about their personality, but it also tells us about the compatibility of your lives together,” says Ms Draper.
“One aspect of a person’s life doesn’t define them but acts as a puzzle piece that may or may not fit our picture of our future lives.”
Perhaps that is why 59 per cent of Australians ask a first date what they do for a living, despite a third (34 per cent) saying they would not care what their potential partner earns.
At least one in 10 openly states that the lowest income that they would deem acceptable for a potential partner to make is over $110,000.
This is a significantly loftier standard than the national median personal income of just under $42,000 according to the 2021 Census.
And, while it was toted that all frontline workers were celebrated during the height of the pandemic, even going as far as to memorialise them together on a $2 coin, some were more venerated than others, and the Aussie dating-scape proves it.
While doctors and nurses climbed to the top of our lists, the eHarmony study also questioned which professions Aussie men and women found least attractive – the results were revealing.
Cleaners and truck drivers were among the five least attractive professions, according to both Australian men and women, despite both professions being inordinately crucial to our society’s withstanding of the pandemic.
Sure, those brave hospital workers shown on the news (and Grey’s Anatomy) may have had some influence, but let’s not pretend it’s less admirable to keep the supply chains going when everyone else has been told to stay put, or to tackle head-on the contamination that put us all at risk.
Dear Aussies: Next time you’re swiping through the dating apps or asking that cutie what they do for a living, just remember: not all heroes wear scrubs.
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