Phobia, or fear, is an emotion we, humans, experience when we are afraid – a universal experience. It is a feeling that hits you when your body senses or anticipates danger from the external environment. Many of us have been scared or have something we are afraid of in one way or another, be it rational or irrational. 

For, say that you are walking and you see a snake coming in your direction or you are driving and see a big truck coming directly at you – speeding, your heart begins to race, you might break a sweat, get all tense and jumpy, but at alert nevertheless. It is your body's way of preparing you to protect yourself. These are rational fears. 

Sometimes, people get irrationally scared of things that can not harm them. Such fear is usually accompanied by extreme fear and anxiety and can be debilitating; a phobia. An example is the fear of pretty women known as caligynephobia. 

You might wonder why anyone would be scared of pretty women and what might cause such phobia. This article has all the possible answers to your curious questions!  

Caligynephobia: fear of beautiful women

Caligynephobia is originally derived from three Greek words: calos, gyne, and phobos; cali means beautiful, gyne means woman or women, and phobos means fear. It is defined as the irrational fear of beautiful women or attractive women. Caligynephobia is also known as Venustraphobia, with Venus, a Roman name Greek goddess of beautiful women and phobos meaning fear. Many men feel self-conscious and anxious in the presence of women they find attractive. For some, it occurs when they are in a one-on-one environment such as a date. This is a common, but irrational reaction. On the other hand, some men find beautiful/attractive women extremely debilitating to the point of significant distress.^1,2

Physiology of fear 

When you are afraid or in a state of fear, your sensory and motor nerves send information they perceive on­­­ the outside environment to your amygdala, which is a part of your brain that processes and evaluates emotions. Your amygdala receives the input and then signals the hypothalamus which sends you to either run, fight, or stay put as a response to the perceived threat; this phenomenon is the "flight or fight" response you must have heard of. A little fun fact, its full saying is: fight, flight, or freeze. When you are in this stage, your adrenal glands also receive a message to produce and release hormones directly into your bloodstream as a response to the initial perceived threat; epinephrine which you may know as adrenaline, norepinephrine, and cortisol known as stress hormone. When your body releases these hormones, you might notice that your heart is pounding quickly, your pupils become dilated, your muscles tensing up, butterflies in your tummy, sweaty palms, and your lips feel dry when you are scared; these are called physiological changes. So, whenever you are nervous or scared around beautiful women, remember this is the biological process that goes on inside of you and it is part of the process that happens naturally; it is your body’s way of protecting you in times of real danger.³

Causes of caligynephobia 

The exact cause for why men are afraid of beautiful women is a subject of research that scientists spent years trying to find an answer to and is yet to be discovered. However, even with limited research on the phobia, studies have found factors that may have influenced this irrational fear you experience when you see beautiful women or are in the presence of one. This factor may be:

• Genetic factor – you may have inherited a particular personality trait with high levels of anxiety, fear, or sensitivity to stimuli. 
• Environmental/observational learning – this involves observing actions or behaviours towards women within your environment, learning from the perceived actions, and unknowingly internalising them. For example, when you observe that your friend gets anxious or panics at the thought of being in the same environment as a beautiful woman, you unconsciously learn and accept their reality to become your own, hence, you unknowingly develop a fear of beautiful women as part of your character simply by environmental observation. 
• Traumatic or negative experiences – unfriendly or inhumane experiences are generally closely associated with fear and anxiety. In the case of caligynephobia, past traumatic or direct negative experiences with a beautiful woman or woman can make you develop an enhanced fear of beautiful women. For example, when you get rejected by beautiful women; when you were physically violated by a pretty woman: sexual harassment or rape, domestic abuse and humiliation by beautiful women.  
• Media portrayal of women – how the media portrays really attractive women may paint an untrue picture and create a negative outlook in the mind of an individual which may lead them to develop fear for beautiful women that pose no harm to them in any way, shape or form.
• Having low self-esteem or poor self-image plays a big factorial role in how an individual perceives beautiful women. 
• Cultural or societal influences – sometimes, how the culture or society you identify or grow up with portrays pretty women may instil fear in some of you, hence, why you might have caligynephobia.^1,2,4  

Signs and symptoms 

• Panic attacks or anxiety 
• Palpitations
• Tightness of the chest
• Rapid heartbeat 
• Trembling or shaking 
• Sweating 
• Dry lips
• Nausea 
• Increased breathing
• Crying or screaming 
• Avoiding social interactions with beautiful women 
• Fear of rejection or embarrassment 
• Loss of reality 
• Suicidal thoughts 

Complications of caligynephobia 

Caligynephobia, if left untreated, has the potential to negatively impact your quality of life and lead to significant complications across social, mental, professional, and personal domains. 

• Social avoidance – Caligynephobia may lead you to not want to be present in social settings and become socially isolated; you begin to feel safe and protected when you avoid social gatherings – a temporary solution, simply because you do not want to see or meet with a beautiful woman or women.  
• Mental health – Repeated negative thoughts about the chilling fact that you cannot escape beautiful women can send you into a mental spiral. This could worsen your overall well-being.  
• Professional incompetence  – Having fear of beautiful women can impact your professional life by breeding incompetence in all aspects of your work such as having problems presenting or speaking publicly, and finding it difficult to work as a team with your work colleagues. It could also lead you to skip workdays to avoid being met with your phobia. Ultimately it decreases productivity at the workplace. 
• Personal life – Caligynephobia can affect your ability to establish and maintain romantic relationships.¹

Treatment and management 

1. Exposure therapy or desensitisation – It involves your therapist gradually exposing you to a series of phobias to desensitise you from them. For example, your therapist may discuss pretty women with you during your first or early session and depending on how you are responding to the technique, she might display pictures of pretty women during your subsequent session. Once you have become desensitised by your phobia, your therapist might have a face-to-face setting in a controlled environment.
2. Cognitive behavioural therapy – Forces you to change your negative thought pattern about pretty women. 
3. Dialectical behavioural therapy 
4. Medications that include:
   • Beta-blockers; slow down fast heart rate by blocking the actions of adrenaline
   • Sedatives or tranquillisers; reduce stress and tension by providing a calming and soothing effect 
   • Antidepressants; to inhibit the chemical responsible for stimulating depression 
5. Flooding – this technique is based on the ground that phobia is a behaviour that is learnt and can be unlearned with appropriate approaches. Your therapist may expose you to several women you find attractive for a long period in a safe and controlled environment. The goal is for you to confront your phobia beyond the overwhelming anxiety you feel until you realise that women mean you no harm and your fear eventually diminishes.^1,5,6

How to prevent caligynephobia

You can prevent this fear by taking the following measures that could reduce the risk of caligynephobia:

• Practise self-help such as journaling, positive affirmation, mindfulness, and exercise 
• Foster a positive perception of perceived reality
• Better yourself by fostering positive self-esteem 
• Seek intervention from mental health professionals, psychologists, or psychiatrists  

Summary

Caligynephobia is an irrational fear of beautiful women, also known as Venustraphobia, triggered by sensory and motor nerves and neuroendocrinological processes that go into play to produce and release hormones responsible for our fight, flight, or freeze response in states of fear or stress. This is why you experience a fast heartbeat, tense muscles, sweaty hands, and dry lips when you are afraid. The cause is studied to be influenced when: you inherit a personality trait, learn by observation, have unfriendly past or direct experiences, have low self-esteem, or listen to untrue media news, and culture. Your healthcare provider may use psychological evaluation and additional diagnostic criteria for similar phobias to help rule out the most accurate diagnosis and best treatment plan to address the phobia; it can hurt the quality of life of a struggling person if it is not addressed. With regular monitoring by your healthcare provider, self-help strategies like journaling, psychotherapy, and medications can help you manage your symptoms.

FAQs

How common is caligynephobia?  

Caligynephobia is uncommon; you hardly ever hear that people are scared of beautiful women, but it is pretty rare. 

Can caligynephobia be diagnosed? 

Unfortunately, Caligynephobia can not be diagnosed distinctively. This means that no clinical diagnostics have been developed specifically for it – it is not on the list of the DSM-5. However it is considered a specific phobia, and phobias present with similar signs and symptoms. So, your healthcare provider may use diagnostic criteria for disorders that are closely similar to your phobia to try and diagnose you accurately. However, you must present with symptoms for at least six months.