Previous work on female intrasexual competition suggests that (heterosexual) women compete for male mates primarily in the domains of sexual accessibility and physical attractiveness, which are characteristics that men value in female partners (e.g., Buss, 1989). Many studies of intrasexual aggression among women have thus tended to focus on cues to either target women’s sexual accessibility (e.g., a reputation for having many sexual partners) or physical attractiveness (e.g., facial symmetry), finding that women displaying such cues are frequent targets of intrasexual aggression. However, this work often fails to acknowledge that some behavior (e.g., appearance enhancement) can simultaneously impact perceptions of both a target woman’s sexual accessibility and her physical attractiveness. Consequently, many findings are ambiguous as to why certain characteristics make women likely targets of intrasexual aggression. To address this, I leverage a basic task analysis to identify the two central components driving perceptions of target women’s mating threat: their competitive intent (i.e., behavior aimed at actively attracting mates) and competitive capacity (i.e., ability to passively attract mates). I predict that a) mate-seeking behaviors (e.g., flirting) drive perceptions of women’s competitive intent, while b) physical attractiveness drives perceptions of women’s competitive capacity, and c) appearance enhancement can drive perceptions of both intent and capacity to compete. The results of two pilot studies offer support for predictions a and b. A third study, the focal dissertation study, investigates the link between women’s appearance enhancement strategies and perceptions of their competitive intent, competitive capacity, and level of mating threat. In each study, I also explore how target women's perceived competitive intent and capacity may impact downstream social consequences (i.e., likelihood of attracting intrasexual aggression, ability to affiliate with other women).