feature sex appeal do you have it? 22 www.cosbeauty.com.au
feature Animal magnetism. That certain je ne sais quoi. Whatever you call it, sex appeal has some serious scientific backing. aimÉe surtenich reports. No matter which branch of science you subscribe to, we have it on good authority that sexual attraction comes down to a primal human quest: to reproduce and nurture healthy offspring. Levels of attractiveness, and what both men and women consider attractive in each other, appear to be a function of both evolution and psychology. Of course, every man and woman has their unique taste, but an overwhelming number of studies show that our biological need to procreate leads most of us to pick mates who have certain physical traits over those who don’t. These physical characteristics stimulate the brain’s hypothalamus, leading to elevated heart rate, perspiration and feelings of sexual arousal. It is also a chemical state, with six or seven hormones at play. ‘Being on drugs is like falling in love (or vice versa),’ says Prof Rob Brooks, Professor of Evolutionary Biology at the University of NSW and author of Sex, Genes and Rock ‘n’ Roll: How Evolution Has Shaped The Modern World. Perhaps the most obvious physical trait that arouses attraction is a youthful appearance, which is linked to reproductive capacity. In humans, mate ‘value’ therefore declines with age, beginning in early adulthood. It follows, then, that we are naturally inclined to enhance our appearance. But what attracts a man to a woman fundamentally differs from what women seek in a male partner. ‘In virtually all of the human populations sampled, males rated physical attractiveness (usually associated with youth) significantly more important in mate choice than females did,’ says Australian evolutionary anthropologist Sean McBride. ‘Females, by contrast, mostly rated earning potential and ambitioncum-industriousness as more important factors when choosing a mate.’ In other words, the attractiveness of the man is directly linked to his skills and prowess rather than his looks. ‘An evolutionary perspective on human behaviour suggests that human beings, like members of other animal species, are likely to have adaptations for assessing the “value” of potential sexual partners, using visual and other cues, and that our standards of physical attractiveness arise from these adaptations,’ McBride continues. Regardless of culture or country of origin, men find similar female traits attractive. Their preferences are biologically and evolutionarily programmed to find signs of youth and health attractive, so as to seek females that are best suited to carry on their genes. Studies have found that female figures with slender bodies, a low waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and large breasts are rated as the most www.cosbeauty.com.au 23