Hardwired for attraction

[treefingers]

I realize that the current theory is that we are hardwired genetically to be attracted to certain things(like women being attracted to alpha/bad boys). But if we are genetically programmed to be attracted to certain things then why is it that different cultures find different things attractive?

For instance in the west being thin is considered attractive. Yet there are regions of the world where being fat is attractive and being thin is ugly. A lot of the regions where this is true are poor and food is scarce. You could argue that they evolved(genetically speaking) to find different things attractive but that doesn't make sense. Evolution happens over millions of years and modern developed societies haven't existed long enough for it's people to develop any significant evolutionary changes. So do we as a society decide what is attractive or not attractive? If yes then to what degree?


Another example: I have talked to quite a few people in asia and they have told me how different what they consider is beautiful is to what the west considers beautiful. The best example is when it comes to men. Here in the US the actors/models/rockers that are considered the most attractive tend to be the ones that are very alpha, very masculine, etc.(think russell crow and brad pitt, sean penn). Yet the people is asia that I have talked to keep telling me that the male actors/models that are considered the most attractive are the guys that are effeminate looking. The real masculine/bad boy type guys are NOT considered the most attractive.



Any thoughts on why what is considered attractive varies so much? And if it does vary then how is this explained within the framework that attraction is genetically controlled?

 

[Socialreject]

I'm not sure if it is genetically wired or not...

I think it's a person to person thing. Personally i do not really care if a woman has a good pair of hips or a bit of a tummy. I don't find it unattractive at all, in fact it can look very good for me personally.

On the other hand, i won't go near "fat" women. I hate any kind of beefcurtains and extra pairs of boobs or any kind of mudflaps.

What most guys consider a 10 i don't consider a 10 at all. The women most guys rate as 10's like say for example angelina jolie, sharon stone etc, i just consider above average looking. The reason for that is that in my opinion those women have a lot of masculin traits in their face. Defined jaws and cheek bones etc, and i prefer more feminine facial charactaristics.

The typical model i find unattractive. They have the bodies of young boys, not women.

That's just me and i think a lot of guys have their personal flavours and personal version of the HB10.

I think truly "fat" people are generally considered unattractive because all the excess fat deforms their bodies and deformations are always unattractive nomatter what.

 

[Docs]

Because attractiveness fits exactly within their own societial boundaries. Take your big women idea. You figure it's illogical to even consider dating a large lady. For them, it's commonplace because it's been that for a long time. That's the only significant controlling factor between attractiveness and society, what society deemed attractive.

Yeah, some of us might like the emo girls, or go for personality, and that's totally alright, but our mainstream society is thin, sexy and hot oriented. You look everywhere, billboards, tv, magazines and even around you. I was in a bookstore yesterday, and on the front page of a computer magazine, was a pretty girl. Next book over, same thing. And on, and on.

You go to a bar, what is eye-appealing to a normal person? It's the low-cut revealing clothing on a thin hottie, not some large girl wearing a sweatshirt.

But that's in our society, you go to a different society and it's all different. There, it could be all about the biggest girl, or the one with the longest neck, or the shortest hair, or..you get the point.

Society drives culture.