From Krzysztof Kościński’s analysis of universal patterns in facial preferences:
Since female faces and children’s faces
have similar features, men prefer highly
feminized female faces for the same rea-
sons that they prefer baby-faced women.
Evolutionary pressure for youthful ap-
pearance applies exclusively, or at least
mainly, to women. Therefore, the differ-
ences between male and female faces
correspond to the differences between
adults’ and children’s faces.Conspicuously reddened lips are under
the control of estrogen, and are probably
a signal of fecundity. It is more difficult
to explain why high estrogen levels are
manifested in this particular way. It has
been suggested that conspicuously red
lips resemble the female genitals in shape
and color, and thereby sexually arouse
men. Therefore, they might have been
subject to sexual selection during the
course of evolution [MORRIS 1967]. On
the other hand, JONES [1996a] suspected
that conspicuous red lips signal that the
woman does not suffer from anemia or
infections, and are therefore a reliable
signal of the woman’s current health and
fecundity.
Via Bookforum.
I’ve always wondered how evolutionary psychology could be testable. And how it could be falsifiable.
It’s great for generating hypotheses, though. Then again, so is Marxism.
Bonus link:
Jerry Fodor’s “The Trouble with Psychological Darwinism”
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v20/n02/fodo01_.html
To be sure, some hypotheses in evolutionary psychology are better thought out than others. But do you really think you can deny the epistemological basis of evolutionary psychology at its best without denying the epistemological basis of evolution itself? I don’t think that you can.
Surprised to find this here.
Most humans seem hardwired to find neoteny adorable: the “awwww…” kitten/puppy/cute reaction. IIRC, in archaeology, when humans domesticate animals, the domesticates’ skeletons change over the succeeding generations in these ways: shorter muzzles, reduced jaws and teeth, bigger eyes and ears relative to a more rounded cranium, without brow ridges– in short, the facial feature geometry of an infant.
“Idealized” mass-media images of women often exaggerate all of these, and of course emphasize very young women in general.