Beauty

Decorating and adorning the body are traditions found throughout the ages and in cultures around the world - practiced by both men and women. We are vain creatures, drawn to our reflection in the mirror even when we don't particularly like what we see. We're attracted to beauty in others - that is, what each culture defines as beautiful. There are some attributes of beauty, like symmetry, that seem to be fairly constant. Others change with the times. Of course it's also true that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder".

Attractiveness has payoffs - in the classroom, in the workplace, and in social networks. But the primary investment in enhancing attractiveness has to do with finding - and keeping - a mate. In the animal kingdom, it's often the males that display bright colors and enact elaborate rituals designed to attract females. Maybe that's because for most animals there's only a limited window of opportunity for mating and the males must act while the iron is hot - so to speak.

There are no such limitations on human mating, so the burden of mating rituals falls more on females who have a bigger interest in 'capturing' a male for bonding and family-building. Traditionally, it's women who have had the greater need for protection, so they compete for the men available to provide that protection. Beauty and sexual desirability are the primary tools used in the competition. Tomorrow I'll address whether beauty enhancements are a boon or a bane to women.