this post was submitted on 10 Dec 2024
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All creatures, including humans, possess instinctual knowledge. This is stuff we are born with. For instance: fear of snakes, or estinating how much protein is in our food by taste. Some of our instinctual knowledge is about mate selection since procreation is a very important goal for a species. We use our nose to detect if others are a good immune system match, and we use our eyes to see if they are sick or unhealthy and also assess their ability to nurture children. That last part is where the boobs come in. They make breast milk and so they are a feature that gives pleasure to see. There is no choice about it. We like what we like because of our genetic programming.
standards of beauty and the sexualization of secondary features are highly cultural. some hundred years ago you'd pull a just-so story out of your ass to explain why ankles are sexy.
When it comes to sexual attraction, no part of the body is excluded. To most straight males (and gay women I guess) feminine shapes are usually atttactive, that can include boobs, hips, noses, hair, ankles. Are female ankles different from male ankles? Difficilt to tell, but a feminine ankle will be probably attractive to someone attracted to women.
The whole cultural thing is absolutelt present, but not in the fundamental attraction for female (or male) appearance
hair styling is entirely cultural, and mainstream preferences for body shape have shifted wildly in the last 30 years just in the united states. all this shit changes way faster than evolutionarily selective pressures.