| What do faces have to do with attractiveness
Posted: 10/15/2006 4:14:52 AM | | Because our purpose in life is to survive and replicate to continue our gene pool and the more perfect someone is the more likely they are to survive and reproduce perfect children who will also be perfect and have more chance at surviving and replicating as well. But a personality will always win over a pretty face. | |
|
| What do faces have to do with attractiveness
Posted: 10/15/2006 1:10:51 PM | For me, the face is the first thing I do look at on a man.
I look for nice eyes, nice smile, decent teeth.
Clean cut.
I don't believe in the theory of evolution, anyhow, so I don't
think you are making a valid statement with your OT. | |
|
| What do faces have to do with attractiveness
Posted: 10/15/2006 5:09:10 PM | im no scientist but if you look at animals and insects colour and so on play a big role............
i think the body makes us think they are suitable to mate with so for a man they would maybe see big hips as fertile etc maybe the face grabs the attention........anyway im not sure so i guess im not too much help on this thread !!!! | |
|
| What do faces have to do with attractiveness
Posted: 10/15/2006 5:29:28 PM | From a more primal viewpoint, faces would still play a role in recognizing attraction itself. The face is arguably the most expressive part of the human anotomy, so better to gauge whether or not the feeling is mutual by facial expression.
Humans, of course, are more complex than basic primal needs so perhaps there are other factors to consider in attraction other than a desire to reproduce. We are inheritantly different from our 4-legged friends, so shouldn't be compared to them in all aspects, including basic physical attraction. As we've evolved to the today, intimacy and coupling does not equate to procreation.
Afterthought... I do recall seeing a show of "the human animal" which went into depth about how mouths were seen as sensual because the lips resembled labia etc.. | |
|
| What do faces have to do with attractiveness
Posted: 10/16/2006 8:08:15 AM | | To offer some thought in answer to your query about the relevance of facial attraction...there is no way of telling if or why one body is attracted or repelled by another body on a very autonomous or subliminal level. Consider for instance the theory that most of us are able to sense genetic compatibilities/incompatibilities/imperfections and even fertility in prospective partners. But what has this to do with the face? It may well be that certain facial features and/or shapes have evolved to either indicate or counterfeit successful genetic traits. For example there is one study (unknown?) which showed empirical evidence suggesting effeminate features on a woman's face correlate with high female fertility. These features include smooth non-salient chins and fine noses. Men are most attracted to women with these facial features and this makes evolutionary sense. Men are not generally attracted to the less fertile group of females with masculine chins and big noses, and this makes evolutionary sense too. Have you noticed on this website that the majority of women who are listed on comparitively few favourites lists have big or masculine chins? Take another look. You will find that those females who have been advertising the longest have big chins and/or big noses. Simply put these are masculine features which are unattractive to men on an aesthetic level because they indicate lower fertility. It has nothing to do with whether a guy wants children. But there's more....! In another study on female preferences it was shown that women can sense if a male has successful or compatible genes and hence this explains why women can choose a partner against all the usual aesthetic expectations. In controlled experiments large numbers of fertile females were surveyed for the physical and personality traits they found attractive then introduced to groups of eligible and non-eligible males. The introduction was in 3 stages: without proximity or seeing the male's faces (i.e. voice only), seeing the male's faces but without proximity, then close up and personal. Throughout all stages no information about the men was withheld (except for genetic information). The control groups included men who were suited and definitely unsuited to the female's surveyed preferences. In other groups some or all of the suitable men carried a genetic propensity for serious diseases. At each stage of introduction to each male the females preferences were surveyed. The broad result of the experiments correlated the rejection of males during the final stage of proximity with a genetic propensity for disease (unknown to the female). The majority of females who voluntarily selected a partner, selected a healthy suitable male while the minority selected a healthy unsuitable male. A much smaller percentage selected an unhealthy suitable male. What appeared to be irrational choices in light of a female's desired attributes was shown to be an intuitive ability to sense genetic defects. The experiment indicated this ability was present at close proximity. Pheromones? It did not indicate any facial recognition of such genetic traits, but it didn't rule it out either. My message is simple. Human preferences are often driven by much simpler mechanisms and the reasons are often lost in translation. Having explored the issue of attraction and aesthetics and reduced it to far simpler equation that makes evolutionary sense (survival sense) I ponder one last perspective. We share more than 97.5% of our genes with Pan Troglodytes (the larger African Chimp - our nearest relative). Don't be surprised therefore to learn that only 2.5% of our genes account for the physical, sexual and social differences between us and a chimp. And an even smaller percentage of those genes account for our difference in appearance. So, my dear friend....how much importance does nature place on appearance in the evolutionary scheme of things? The question IS....it probably doesn't matter...because that tiny percentage of genes may have a huge impact on our survival due to social/cultural importance WE place on them. Cheers. | |
|
| What do faces have to do with attractiveness
Posted: 12/23/2007 5:08:31 AM | Here are a few reasons that facial features are important.
1. It's the most looked upon part of the body.
2. It's the most destinguishable part of your body.
3. As far as first impressions go, physical attraction does make a difference. And since your face tends to be the only place almost always uncuvered during a first impression, it is used heavily to quickly size up the person you meet.
4. Our faced are the primary points of communication. Not only is that where your mouth is, but facial gestures can typically tell you more of what the person is really trying to say.
5. The superficial side of man not only wants to find a mate that is attractive to him/her, but they often also look for a mate who will be attractive to others as well. It's a social acceptance thing. | |
|
Home
login 