New report: Evolution favors women
Scientists prove that women are prettier for a reason.
Thu, Jul 30 2009 at 5:48 PM EST
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Photo: KateMossOnline.net It's a widely held consensus that women are the "fairer sex" and now a new report from the University of Helsinki proves it.
The study, which used a sample of 2,000 American parents, indicated that beautiful women were 16 percent more likely to have a daughter than a son. An earlier study in 2006 led by Dr. Satoshir Kanazawa of the London School of Economics found that "attractive" parents were far more likely to have daughters. The new report from Helsinki used photographs to allow a broad study group to rank the "attractiveness" of the couples.
Couples with higher attractiveness ratings were proven to have more daughters. So evolution, does in fact seem to favor the continuing beautification of the female sex. As Kanazawa explains:
Physical attractiveness is a highly heritable trait, which disproportionately increases the reproductive success of daughters much more than that of sons. If more attractive parents have more daughters and if physical attractiveness is heritable, it logically follows that women over many generations gradually become more physically attractive on average than men.
Essentially the daughters of pretty couples are themselves prettier. When they grow up and have their own babies, those babies also tend to be (pretty) females.
It is believed that this was an "evolutionary strategy" programmed in human DNA to ensure the success of the female sex in a fiercely competitive environment.
So much for equal opportunity evolution ... but I think few men would argue with Mother Nature on this one. We'll be content living life as the hairy apes we are, surrounded by scores of Mosses and Jolies.
via: Telegraph.co.uk
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Comments
Pamela Drake
08/04/2009 15:23 PM
is who determines what "pretty" is... me thinks that the fellows at the London School of Economics might have a different idea than, say, Manny,the deli owner, who lives down my street (and loves his big-hipped female customers!)
quinn
08/04/2009 10:32 AM
this is a cool article. my parents are pretty hot, so...
