BRITISH WOMEN feel that mechanics have the 'manliest' occupation according to a survey of 1,631 people commissioned by UK motor product company Nulon.

Soldiers, butchers, firemen, oil rig workers and plumbers all feature in the top 10 list of 'manliest' jobs in the UK, and respondents were asked to select jobs from a list of 40 professions they felt were most 'manly'.

Nearly a third of the women who participated in the study, 32%, feel that mechanics typify manliness, followed by firemen, whom 26% of women said were the 'manliest' workforce in the UK.

The top 10 'manliest' professions as judged by UK women are as follows:

  1. Mechanic - 32%
  2. Fireman - 26%
  3. Oil rig worker - 24%
  4. Butcher - 21%
  5. Soldier - 19%
  6. Farmer - 15%
  7. Builder - 15%
  8. Plumber - 13%
  9. Rugby player - 10%
  10. Electrician - 8%

When asked which profession was least appealing from the list of jobs, over half of female respondents, 54%, agreed that working as a butcher would be the biggest turn off.

61% of the respondents said that they would be more attracted to a man with a 'manlier' job.

William Findlay, UK CEO of Nulon-uk.com said, "I've got a lot of friends who work as mechanics that will no doubt revel in these findings! I think that if more people knew exactly what it was that oil rig workers did though, they would have stormed to the top of the list.

"Being a company that makes products intended to help with the day-to-day health of your car, the results definitely surprised us.

We commissioned the study initially so we could look at women's feelings towards the motor industry, but then saw from the results that there is still a definite stigma attached to certain male-dominated jobs."