Tuesday, November 10, 2009

1. http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/science-of-sex-appeal-attractive-facial-features.html

2. http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/science-of-sex-appeal-signals-of-the-flesh.html

I found this first short video after I read the assigned reading from Lemley; "Isn't She Lovely?" I was looking for an example of what the "hyperfeminized" faces from the reading looked like. It elaborated on what the reading had already said and gave some helpful visuals.

The second video is a related study that I thought was pretty interesting. College students were asked to judge photos of small patches of skin on the attractiveness that their owner probably possessed. After a short period of time the students were able to distinguish and rate what they thought were the most attractive people based on the sample photo of skin given to them. Why is such a small glimpse of a person all that's needed to assess their attractiveness?
It is guessed that in evolution, parasites were particularly prevalent in the success or failure of humanity. Therefore, the easiest way to indicate that a potential mate may not be a good choice, would be to analyze their skin color and texture. This would be a good representation of the general health of the other. It would be especially useful in determining their hormonal health because an imbalance in hormones is quite often the cause of irregular complexion and blemishes.

I thought that this attempt to delve into more detailed theory of visual attraction seemed pretty reasonable. It's kind of amazing that without even thinking about the smaller details in summing up someone's appeal, you are subconsciously analyzing all these finer points.
I wonder how people will adapt from here on out. Today, you can't assume someone is healthy just by seeing the tone of their skin. Actually, you can assume that if a woman's skin is too evenly colored and her cheeks are rosy, that she is wearing make-up. An attractive all-over tan is also a good indicator that this person may use tanning beds. Many cosmetics contain checmicals known to cause cancer, and by now everyone knows that tanning beds do as well. So in the future will an even skin tone, rosy cheecks and colored lips be considered unadaptive rather than indicators of good physical health? Maybe that's too much to assume being that nearly everything is supposed to cause cancer. However, I do think it's interesting that what we do to appear attractive to mates, seems to be making us less desirable mates.

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