Writing Faux Pas #1

From a student's paper on attraction:

Being a man, I can speak for myself and mankind by saying physical attractiveness is the initial factor that draws us toward a certain person.

I laughed out loud at this. I'm not sure why it tickled me so much as I have read similar statements from students in the past, but the statement that "I can speak for mankind" is just so outrageously bold. The claim he makes is supported by research (which he does not cite), though the research asserts that sex differences in attraction are not so great as we may think. Men prefer physical attractiveness, but only slightly. Women prefer resources and stability, but only slightly. That this kid could make a claim that he somehow represents all penis-carrying members of the human race is enormously funny to me. Naturally, I wrote a note on his paper indicating the need for inclusive language, an understanding of scientific statistics, etc.

P.S. I don't have to cite my sources because this is a blog. He has to cite them because it's scholarly work. If you'd like to know where the research comes from, I will tell you. Oh, fine. If you insist. You can find a full literature review on attraction in this text:

Guerrero, L. K., Andersen, P. A., & Afifi, W. A. (2007). Close encounters: Communication in relationships (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.