It seems you really can't have every good thing in the world. A very unique study published recently revealed that masculine-looking men may be suffering from a lower sperm quality.
The research paper entitled "Male Facial Attractiveness and Masculinity May Provide Sex- and Culture-independent Cues to Semen Quality" was published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology but appeared online on July 23, 2014.
The researchers tapped 50 Caucasians studying at the University of Valencia as their subjects. They then obtained and analyzed their semen based on their motility, concentration, and structure. They also took pictures of the faces of their subjects and then compared them based on 7 criteria including the width of the nostrils and the cheekbones.
The results of the analyses revealed two very important points. First, men who are labeled macho (or have a more masculine and wider face) tend to produce semen of lower quality than the rest of the subjects. Meanwhile, a comparison survey was participated by straight men and women who are in their twenties. The participants were then asked to rate the subjects, with women pretending looking for a long-term partner and men thinking the way women would rate the men.
Using the survey as additional reference material, the study further suggested that those who are considered attractive but not masculine looking produce better-quality sperm than those that were considered as less attractive.
When asked for differences, it's possible that the lower-quality semen among macho men is caused by the over-production of testosterone. An abnormal or high level of this sex hormone can reduce the efficiency of semen production.
They also believe that the differences may be a trade off as macho men to attract more women than physically attractive males. With their ability to get more ladies quickly, virility may be moot for the macho men.
The researchers would like to expand the study to establish a more concrete link between semen production and quality and male physical features.
