Analysis of a Documentary on Sexual Selection - Term Paper Example

?Analysis of a Documentary National Geographic: Naked Science ‘What’s Sexy?’ The process of sexual inter seems simple but it is a lot more complicated than just the sperm fertilizing an egg. This phase of fertilization is secondary as sexual selection comes before the intercourse. But the question is how and why humans select their perfect mate? Previously, sexual selection was mostly dealt in abstract terms such as love is just a ‘feeling’ but science has tapped into the secrets of what love, attraction and lust really mean and where their origins lie. Lust is the prime driver for sex. Lust is animalistic an exchange of bodily fluids. It is an impulse that kicks the sex drive in humans. As a rule humans get turned on by the features of the opposite sex. The National Geographic documentary of sexual selection conducted an experiment where random men on the streets were asked to identify the woman they find most attractive from the 4 pictures of similar looking female figures. Most men chose the figure that had the perfect hip to waist ratio (waist being 7/10th of the hip). This attraction is biological. It is a natural driver of lust because the females with the hip to waist ratio are naturally more fertile. They conceive easily and generally have fewer complications during pregnancy. For this reasons men find women with such curves more attractive. Lust is the craving for sexual gratification. It is primarily driven through the visual. The experiment in the documentary demonstrates that romantic love is in fact real and has scientific basis. Students who claimed to be in love were asked to lie down in the Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI). It showed the map and blood flow to their brains. Certain parts of the brain get more oxygen when the students committed in a relationship were shown pictures of their loves ones. However it appeals more to the woman than the man. From an evolutionary perspective it is an activity to focus love energy on one person. Attachment is the third driver in sexual selection. People get attached to a person long enough to have sex with each other and make babies. The attachment is a natural insurance policy (in theory) making sure that the other person will be around to take care of the child. The attachment in humans is developed for a secure union with a long term partner for at least raising a child through infancy. The central nervous system is made up of the brain and other nervous receptors. The sensory system is how humans perceive information and the endocrine is the system that is composed of glands that produce hormones. All of these play a crucial role in sexual selection. We feel the emotions through the nervous system and become attracted to a person. Sensory system gives information to the brain if someone is attractive or not (both visually and in character). The endocrine system is responsible for how males and females develop their features; females having smoother skin, breasts and soft cheeks, and men having strong muscles, broader shoulders and a strong dominant jaw. The above three drivers decide how humans select their sexual partners. It boils down to physical features. Males are driven to the visual aspect and women toward the characters. For this reason one of the oldest professions in the world is the strip tease that visually stimulates a man’s sexual arousal. Females on the other hand do not put much emphasis on the physical features. They judge the male (unconsciously) based on her memory system. For instance the students that went under the Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI) machine showed different brain activity to different images shown to them. When they were shown pictures of their partners a different area in the brain showed increased blood flow. Men are attracted through the visual stimuli. The physical features of a woman are more attract to a man than her character. This is 100% true when it is just a matter of lust. The females on the other hand, are not only looking for a fertile male. Their ideal man needs to have more than just the looks. They want the ‘intangible features’ in their men; reliability, loyalty, kindness etc. Such intangible characteristics suggest a good husband and a good father for their children. The difference thus extends to the way male and female select their sexual partner. Men can ‘look’ at a female and decide if they want her or not but females cannot do only that and have sexual intercourse. They need to establish that the man they are analyzing has the traits of; dependability, responsibility, intelligence, kindness and love so that he can provide for them and protect her family. They are particularly interested in a man’s character and they build a memory map in their heads about their man. They analyze the man based on this memory map whether he will be a suitable husband and father or not. For these reasons females tend to remember more of things that don’t really matter to men. For instance they want to know if their man remembered their birthday, or if he brought flowers on Valentine’s Day or if he forgot to take care of his responsibility. Another trait that attracts females is the dominance factor. The game of dominance is evident in almost all mammals. The most successful males are those who get to spread their genes the most and have more babies. Hence women are attracted to dominant men. The evidence is everywhere; people are spending billions of dollars on cosmetic surgery to become sexually more attractive. Women have a greater tendency to go under the knife. In future this trend will only increase. Females go to surgeons so that after operation they can look younger. Men find younger women more attractive as they are more fertile. The ratio of women going for cosmetic surgery compared to men is 9 to 1. Men also visit cosmetic surgeons to become more masculine. They usually get an implant in the jaw to have an appearance that makes them look more dominant. There is an explosion of people undergoing cosmetic surgery to look more attractive to the opposite sex; however this may result in a population where there are more unattractive people. Cosmetic surgery only masks the unattractiveness. It is an illusion to which the opposite sex falls for. However, their genes are the same carrying the same deficiencies, so more people with unattractive features will be having intercourse. These sexually unattractive people are becoming more successful in sexual reproduction. It will result in babies that have the same unattractive features. The notion of ‘falling in love’ has a scientific base. When a person falls in love (probably the second stage of sexual selection) it has a similar sensation the person feels during fear or extreme excitement. The experiment showed in the video that when a female researcher gave phone numbers to men on a wobbly suspension bridge she received four times more phone class than from the guys she gave her number to on a low stone bridge. Hence the funny suggestion that instead of taking the date to a nice calm restaurant it is better to go on a roller coaster ride. Intelligence is evolutionarily seductive. Females find the person more attractive that shows more intelligence. Intelligence represents how resourceful a man is. It is through intelligence humans have survived thorough evolution. Civilizations don’t live in caves anymore but intelligence is still a highly effective seduction tool. It is shown through status, clothes and the way a person talks. All of these things are indicators of intelligence. Creativity is also one of the prime drivers in seduction. Researchers show that creative people find more sexual partners than the rest. This includes artists, painters, poets and other people who are creative. Picasso was considered attractive by many females simply because of his genius creativity. From evolutionary perspective creativity makes sense. Men had to be creative to innovate tools, weapons, and methods for hunting and storing food. Humans have become wired to liking creativity. Females find the man with creativity more attractive as he can provide better resources for her and their offspring. Kindness is rated as probably the most desired trait in sexual selection. Both sexes find people with kindness attractive. In the subconscious the message is delivered that a kind partner will be protective towards them and will better take care of the children. I agree with the concepts presented. There is hardly anything a student like me can argue with. There is scientific evidence to all the claims. If a girl’s hippocampus lights up when they judge a man it has been shown through scanned images. The only thing I kept asking was what about the exceptional cases? If the theory is correct as they claim then what about the people who deviate from the norm. For instance, what about the men who chose different picture from the chart of women figures? Not all of the men chose the same picture so how does science explain their sexual selection? Are they abnormal? Do they have a dysfunctional brain system? On similar ground there are men who also weight the character of the female more than her visual appeal. So is there a hormonal imbalance in their bodies? Can this aspect be set as a standard that a healthy male is supposed to be attracted by the visual more than the personality of females? Should going to strip clubs be considered a sign of a healthy normal male? Read More