Oldshark wrote:Trying to choose my top two types was good mental discipline, but difficult. Good job in defining the categories, btw, laura!
It's actually easier for me to list and rank turn-offs; there is a remarkable range of porn figures that I find attractive, and a relatively small number of things that I consider to be absolute disqualifications.
I've read debates between evolutionary biologists about the respective biological stereotyping that's wired into the male and female brains (cis-versions, anyway) for the respective reproductive strategies. The experts make guesses about why some men are attracted to lush, rounder women (stereotyped as "obviously maternal, capable of bearing children & breastfeeding them"), whereas other men are attracted to the lean, skinny mynx (stereotyped as "obviously no bun already in that oven, I'm getting here first or at least early"). At some point, "virginal" begins to look "unhealthy/starved" for that second type of guy, and at some point "lush" shades into "obese" for the first type of guy; and different men within each type set their "disqualification" points differently. And some of it's situational: "Beer goggles" is a phenomenon older than written history, I'm sure, and who you might fancy when raiding a neighboring village might vary substantially from who you choose to bring back to bear your acknowledged heir. There's a difference between "I'd hit that!" and "I need to put a baby in her belly!" But both can be strong drives, I can confirm from personal observation. (I have zero insight into the female analogs to these reproductive strategies or attractions, although I've read some that seem superficially plausible to my testosterone-soaked brain.)
Good post. Agree mostly.
Except I think that, biologically speaking, "I'd hit that!" exactly = "I need to put a baby in her belly!" because at the lizard brain level, men are biologically programmed to spread those genes about. Which is mostly the level we're operating at when we choose which porn to watch, with or without beer.
But if you've evolved as far as actually
thinking about choosing the mother for your acknowledged children, then IMO you choose a smart, healthy one with commonsense and the personality to make a good partner and mother. Which is hard, if your speed-dating experience is limited to raiding the neighbouring village.