ValleyWag points to a study done by the "guru of web page usability," Jakob Nielsen. This study examined users' eye-movements as they look at webpages to see how people scan and identify information. The article is mainly interesting for web designers, but one section is interesting for everyone else, too.
When photos do contain people related to the task at hand, or the content users are exploring, they do get fixations. However, gender makes a distinct difference on what parts of the photo are stared at the longest. Take a look at the hotspot below.
Although both men and women look at the image of George Brett when directed to find out information about his sport and position, men tend to focus on private anatomy as well as the face. For the women, the face is the only place they viewed.
Coyne adds that this difference doesn’t just occur with images of people. Men tend to fixate more on areas of private anatomy on animals as well, as evidenced when users were directed to browse the American Kennel Club site.
And women wonder why there is the "you-may-only-stare-straight-ahead rule" in men's bathrooms.