In this week between Christmas and New Year’s, it seemed like a great time to peek into why red is a sexy color sometimes (like slinky New Year’s eve dresses) but not others (Santa).

• Red as sexy: not just American
• The red monologue in “Kinky Boots,” again
• Some scientific studies on red and male behavior and perceptions – generally, red made men sit closer, ask more intimate questions and rank women as more attractive
• How women perceive red on men
• Cylon 6 and her red dress
• Red shirts
• Lorne from “Angel” and his red suits (RIP Andy Hallett)
• Ralphie
• Mina’s dress in “Dracula”
• Primates
• A lengthy discussion of a study in which men looked at pictures of women’s genitals in varying shades of redness
• Valentine’s Day
• Red in fairy tales
• Red sports cars
• The little girl in the red coat in “Schindler’s List”
• World War II and the wearing of lipstick
• Little Red Riding Hood and “The Path”
• Listener mail! From Codie, who wrote about minority stereotypes in media, after hearing our older episode on manic pixie dream girls

My research:

• Johns, Sarah E. et al. “Red Is Not a Proxy Signal for Female Genitalia in Humans.” PLoS One.  April 2012.
• Kayser, Daniela et al. “Red and Romantic Behavior in Men Viewing Women.” European Journal of Social Psychology. 2010.

Holly’s research:

• Seeing Red: Does Wearing Red Make You Sexy?
• The Red-Dress Effect
• Red Really Is the Color of Romance
• Wearing red may boost your sex appeal

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