Your answer to the above question depends,
in part, on your sex - or so says psychologist
David Buss in The Evolution of Desire:
Strategies of Human Mating.

Dr. Buss has studied more than 10,000 men
and women from 37 cultures and has concluded
that our mating preferences, strategies and
behaviors are in large part "hardwired".

They have been shaped by evolution and have
changed little over recent millenia.

Further, Buss asserts that the mating preferences
of men are quite different from those of women;
and that these differences have relevance for the
"physical attractiveness" question posed by the
pipe-puffing psychologist in the frames above.

More specifically, Buss contends that evolution
has favored those men who selected women
whose young, healthy, physically attractive
appearance suggested reproductive prowess
and the promise of healthy offspring.

In contrast, evolution favored those women
who chose mates that were more capable of
providing security and resources; and, impor-
tantly, more likely to stick around to raise
offspring.

In this strategy, aesthetic attractiveness,
however it may be defined, takes a backseat
to factors such as intelligence, physical
strength, ambition, and dependability.

In short, Dr. Buss's findings suggest that in
mate selection, the "physical attractiveness"
of a potential mate is more important for men
than it is for women.


Do you buy this?
Comments please.