This comment was from Jonathan G on the post Curves (or Lack of Curves) Don’t Make the Woman
I like the idea of getting rid of an established norm as to physical attractiveness, but I think that notion has some major roadblocks. One of the biggest is the dirty, little secret that not all romantic relationships are based on agape-type love, or a deep, intimate connection with one’s partner’s true, inner self.
No, a heck of a lot of attraction is predicated on social factors. Namely, we humans tend to want to establish our social status by being seen to possess something that everybody else wants. Conversely, we tend to want what we see that other people want. What we find physically attractive in a partner is influenced, more or less depending on the individual, by what our society finds attractive.
The scientific research shows that there are some universal determinants of physical attractiveness, but much of it is culturally-determined. The ideal changes over time with the fashion of the day, of course, but with this human tendency to jump on the bandwagon with what other humans deem desirable, I doubt that having an ideal will ever go away.
The post “A heck of a lot of attraction is predicated on social factors.” appeared first on The Good Men Project.