As people increasingly socialize through virtual reality worlds like World of Warcraft and Second Life, their avatars become more and more free from the constraints of their real physical properties and more in tune with their psychological traits. This proves more powerfully than anything in the past that the key to consumerism is not the possession of material things, but the practical props for survival and reproduction of a certain body, but also a kind of packaging and advertising of our genes. For hundreds of years, people have realized through the observation of the flesh that, like all animals, the human form is like a showcase, showing the health of the human being. By understanding how we exhibit good genes, health, and fertility through physical traits, we can more clearly understand how self-promotion consciousness manifests itself through our consumption behavior.
Folk wisdom associates beauty with health and fertility. Publilius Cyrus, the roman-Latin aphorism writer, once wrote: "The outward appearance of beauty is the recommendation of silence." ”
Oscar Wilde, an intelligent Irish gay writer, also wrote: "Only superficial people can not judge people by their appearance." ”
Martha Graham, an American modernist dancer and bone beauty, has this observation: "The body does not lie. ”
Peacocks have gorgeous tails, lions have majestic manes, while humans have thick, growing hair, large jewel-like eyes that shimmer with a white sclera luster, lips with sexy curvatures on their rich faces, silky skin, and elegant and agile hands. As Darwin discovered, these qualities of humanity are all the result of sexual selection, that is, our ancestors for generations looked for reliable evidence of youthfulness, health, and fertility when it came to selective partners. Not only that, but both sexes have their own diverse ways of expressing their health. Men have thick beards, wide jaws, strong upper limb muscles, and longer, thicker penises than other great apes. Women, on the other hand, have fairly full breasts and hips, as well as a relatively thin waistline, compared to other large apes. These sex-related traits don't begin to mature until adolescence, and this is exactly the time for everyone to show their health in the courtship market. Over the past 15 years, evolutionary psychologists have shown that many of these human physical traits do have the function of manifesting health (although this may seem like a self-evident truth, it is not easy to find empirical evidence for these so-called "obviouss"). Now, we have strong evidence that these physical traits are a sexual signal exclusive to humans, and that they are particularly pronounced in sexual interactions.
These traits, which show marked differences between the sexes, develop under the influence of sex hormones, and puberty is its peak season. Some of these traits (lips, chest, buttocks, penis) can even be hyperemic when libido is erect. They exude a sexy atmosphere that wants to cover up, and they have bloated and complex structures that are difficult to disguise as a sign of survival and reproductive ability. They are the focus of attention when men watch pornographic photos and women read pornographic text. When we age, get sick, or starve, our hair falls out, our faces become haggard, our lips dry, our skin wrinkles, and our hands tremble. If it is a man, the penis, muscles and chin will shrink; if it is a woman, the chest and hips will contract and wrinkles will appear. If our parents are siblings or cousins, then genetic mating can weaken our health, fertility and attractiveness. If we are seriously injured, then the wound will impair the symmetry of our body and the sensitivity of our movements. These traits are both a reflection of physical health and a reflection of physical health (the two statements are different).
These traits are most accurately reflected in people with moderate or poor health. For example, beloved superstars like Anne Hathaway and Will Smith aren't necessarily healthier or more fertile than the top 20 percent of high school classmates. But these two types are likely to be healthier and more fertile than the top 20 percent of the most unpopular classmates in the class. The love of the beautiful flesh and the rejection of the ugly, the uneven, the sick, the disabled, the crippled, the seriously injured flesh are two sides of the same coin. When we buy beauty products, the main purpose is to hide our imperfections, and this is exactly what people explore on the embarrassing problem website (Embarassingproblems.co.uk): acne, bad breath, large poop, cold sores, dandruff, genital infections, head lice, impotence, incontinence, penile disease, snoring, varicose veins and warts.
In fact, when we look at the appearance of the human body, it is difficult to find anything in common, because only those traits that reflect health are obvious. If you compare British actress Elizabeth Hurley to one of her most ugly female relatives, or British star David Beckham to her most ugly male relatives, it's hard to imagine that they or their kidneys, colon, tongue, eyeballs, and ovaries or testicles are structurally, functionally, and physiologically identical. If you were also one of the 8 million people who visited the bioplasticized human corpses in Dr. Gunther von Hagens' exhibition "The World of the Body," you might find it difficult to say exactly which of these bodies was more sexually attractive before the skin was stripped, the muscles dissected, and the internal organs were broken up. If you're executed, your sexual attractiveness won't have much impact on how your kidneys, corneas, liver, and heart are sold on the medical black market. Maybe there is a wealthy Singapore businessman who is admiring his good life through the cornea of a death row prisoner, and it means nothing to him as to whether the original owner is beautiful or ugly.
In corpse trading (for medical schools and surgical training research), large companies such as Innovations in Medical Education and Training (IMET) don't care how good you look before a corpse is sent into the supply chain of the "organization bank." They'll only pay the standard: $550 for a head, $815 for a full leg, $1,500 for a spine, or $375 for one breast, and then attach air freight. When the packaging of these organizations is occasionally broken in the sorting center of the courier company, the workers will not exclaim: "Wow, the chin contour of this severed head is really handsome, and the forehead is so high!" "To them, it's nothing more than an obnoxious ball of flesh, fat and bone thawing." As IMET's leader, Augie Perna, said in an interview with Harpers magazine: "The torso you parasitize now is nothing more than flesh and bone." In my eyes, this is the product. Or like the ascetic philosopher Epictetus left a text from 1900: "You are a tiny soul dragging a corpse." ”
I'm not trying to shake your existential notion with this bizarre theory; I just want you to remember that, on the whole, the human flesh is indeed very similar, except that we focus our attention on the very small differences in nature. To a short, malnourished, rickety, lice-covered medieval farmer, we might all look as gorgeous as angels; in the eyes of a chimpanzee with thick limbs, we may all look like chemotherapists with anemia, short arms, and collapsed faces. If it were a tiger with sharp teeth like a sword blade, we would probably just be a good meal. Members of the International Biometric Industry Association, an international biostatistics industry association, must go all out to explore reliable ways to automatically distinguish between different people. In general, this requires precise measurements of complex and quasi-random surface laws of the skin (fingerprints, handprints, spectral reflection images), faces, irises, or sounds. For other species and biometric instruments, human differences are really not worth mentioning.
However, after thousands of generations of reproduction, from the macro perspective of the entire population, the evolutionary results of these differences can become extremely large. Small differences in DNA sequences lead to subtle differences in proteins, cells, tissues, organs, and the flesh, which in turn bring about differences in the average rate of reproductive success. The reason we are gradually beginning to pay attention to these seemingly trivial differences is because their effects are crucial on a long-term scale of evolution.
Obviously, there are many goods and services in the market that can improve the physiological image. One of the most popular and vivid examples, the clothing, cosmetics and fitness industries, has long been analyzed by thousands of researchers. But only the more extreme eccentric businesses will surprise us and remind us of how much narcissism lurks beneath the surface of consumerism. One example is a Tokyo-based company called B2Up that sells "breast-augmenting" gum to Japanese schoolgirls. It contains phytoestrogens that are claimed to improve breast size, shape and firmness (see Bustgum.com). Another example is Extreme Makeover, a reality TV show that filmed volunteers undergoing liposuction, breast augmentation, facelifts, abdominal wrinkle removal, exercise and closet renovation.
Strong signals cover weak signals, from marathons to triathlons
When jogging became popular in developed countries in the 1970s, runners began to race marathons. Beginning with the Boston Marathon in 1897, large annual marathons began to mushroom everywhere: New York (1970), Berlin (1974), Chicago (1977), London (1981). The world's largest New York City Marathon has now had to limit the number of participants to 37,000 per year.
However, from the perspective of sending health signals, running a marathon poses a problem: it is actually too easy. It quickly became apparent that with about 6 months of serious training, almost anyone between the ages of 15 and 55 could run a marathon. Completing a 42km marathon is no longer a special achievement that can be respected by others, and non-professional runners may also win the marathon. To make matters worse, marathon training doesn't give people a very attractive form. Long-distance runners become like skinny bamboo poles: men lose muscles in their upper extremities, while women lose their busts, hips and fertility. Regardless of gender, there will be a decrease in sex hormones and a loss of libido. Finally, the cost of running a marathon to signal a healthy body is too low: you only need to buy a pair of $80 running shoes to compete.
As a result, there is a need for other forms of amateur sports, a sport that celebrates a stronger, fuller, sexier, more fertile body and requires more expensive equipment. No, in 1977, the Hawaiian Triathlon was born. Athletes need to swim 3.8 kilometers, ride 180 kilometers, and then run a 42 kilometer marathon. The competition requires amateur athletes to have greater upper limb strength (swimming), lower limb strength (cycling), and fat reserves (resisting bone-chilling cold water and providing the energy needed for long periods of activity). Today, professional triathlon competitors also need to spend at least $5,000 on equipment, for example, a $550 Blue Seventy Helix Full triathlon wetsuit, a $3,800 Scott CR1 Plasma Pro triathlon bike, plus special energy food and electrolyte drinks (triathlon, unlike marathons, must be refueled energized on the way). So, in terms of bringing fame to athletes, triathlon quickly surpassed the marathon: because it was longer, more difficult, more competitive, more demanding on muscle, required more training, and needed more money. In addition to the aerobic ability of our ancestors to cope with long walks and runs, as well as the strength to carry prey, collect crops, and carry babies, the flesh of triathlete is also more likely to satisfy the sexual preferences we have evolved to this day, in line with the image of a healthy, fertile human being.
Triathlon is a classic example of a strong trait. It has higher requirements not only for physical health, but also for wealth, effort and conscientiousness in training. Compared to the marathon, it can also bring a flesh that is more symbolic of human sexual preferences in terms of overall health, strength and fertility. The replacement of marathons by triathlon exemplifies a key principle of signaling: strong signals always cover weak signals.
Female fertility signals with makeup
One of my central arguments is that we consciously or unconsciously buy many products to try to improve social and sexual attractiveness of certain personal traits Certain physiological traits (breasts, buttocks, hair) have the function of reflecting health conditions, and it is an indisputable fact that women show sexual attraction through these traits. However, there are many other physiological traits that have more subtle health-reflecting functions for men or women, and these traits that are more easily exposed to others can be improved by purchasing products. Women's cosmetics, for example, can give us more insight into the nature of beauty: how certain female facial traits function as a reflection of health, youth, and fertility.
The evolutionary principle behind cosmetics is that in most primate species, sexual selection is extremely focused on the face. This is because most primates are highly social (they focus on the concerns of other kinds and the messages conveyed by their facial expressions) and highly visual (they pay attention to the appearance of the eyes and faces of other kinds). Typically, this causes female primates to choose male primates whose facial attraction features are exaggerated to unreasonable.
The whole face itself may evolve to be more visually impactful, with black and white contrasts like the black-and-white colobus monkey, the white-faced monk-faced monkey, and the white-armed long-tailed monkey. The eyes also evolved to become more prominent, with significant contrasting colors around the orbits similar to those of the face, such as the white-nosed monkey, the red-crowned monkey, and the yellow langur monkey. The skin or hair on the face may evolve contrasting colors, like the fiery red face of a bald monkey and the sky blue face of a long-tailed monkey. These colors may evolve slightly lighter, like the light blue of the golden-silked nose-raising monkey or the pale pink of the Yunnan nose-raising monkey, but they may also become more vulgar, like the red-faced blue nose of the mountain fish. Other primates have evolved striking hairstyles, such as the small whiskers of the Tamarix monkey and the Mohawk hairstyle of the Tamarix monkey. Some features of the face may be magnified to have an oversized nose (proboscis monkey), a flesh pad on the cheek (a long-armed tailless monkey), or a pointed skullcap (a gorilla).
In each case, it was male primates who exhibited a more unique and extreme appearance, reflecting that in evolutionary history, females were predominantly selected based on facial health characteristics. In contrast, in humans, sexual selection affects facial features of both sexes to a roughly equal degree, resulting in completely different male "male hormone" features (more pronounced eyebrows, jaws, and nose; small eyes with darker eye sockets; beards) and female "estrogenic" features (larger, more pronounced eyes; fuller lips; lighter, smoother skin).
Many of the signals of a woman's facial attractiveness act not only as a reflection of health, reliably revealing the woman's stable genetic quality, but also as a reflection of fertility, revealing whether the woman's fertility is at its peak in life or is in the ovulation period. Female humans have an unusual characteristic, that is, they have become sexually active in the first few years after they acquire biological fertility, that is, when they first enter youth (according to the low-fat diet of human ancestors, this usually occurs at the end of adolescence); and when they lose their physiological fertility, this sexual activity lasts for a long time (until the end of menopause). Equally unusual, they remain sexually active during their periods, rather than courtship activities only before the ovulation period and when fertility is at their peak.
Through this sexual activity when fertility is not really formed, female humans can get more help, care, and investment from men for themselves and their children. However, this raises the question for men: if they have limited resources to devote to themselves, multiple potential girlfriends, and so-called offspring, how do they choose the investment opportunities that are most likely to increase their reproductive success? That is, how do they distinguish between immature, menopausal, menstruating, or pregnant women who are truly fertile and able to conceive?
In estimating a woman's age, it's clear that men have evolved to pay close attention to facial and physical signals that indicate that the other person is at a peak stage of fertility. Women's fertility increases rapidly at the end of puberty, peaks around the age of 25, then gradually weakens at the age of 30 to 40, and finally reaches the lowest point of fertility in most women at the age of 40. As a result, prehistoric men who indulge in the sexual attraction of girls with immature fertility or women whose fertility has declined, even though they may have had a wonderful love relationship, have not left many offspring who have inherited their unsuitable preferences. And prehistoric men who were attracted to women at the peak of their fertility between the end of puberty and 35 years of age left more offspring and inherited their ability to look for signs of youthfulness and fertility maturity.
In evolution, women also have corresponding countermeasures, starting to develop signals of fertility at an earlier young age and maintaining it until later post-menopause, thus winning more attention and investment from male spouses. In prehistory, there were no birth certificates, driver's licenses, or birthday parties to objectively track a woman's actual age. Men have no choice but to guess their actual age and fertility, based on only visual and behavioral signals related to sexual maturity, youth, and fertility. As a result, women have evolved to learn to continue to disguise their fertility for ages 20 to 60, and this disguise is not only manifested physiologically, but also from behavior. Men then evolved countermeasures against this response, finding sharper ways to distinguish between real fertility and pseudo-fertility, and reacting to real fertility signals with sexual impulses. For example, Bill Clinton is said to have had a peach-colored relationship with Monica Lewinsky in 1995, when Monica (born in 1973) was just 22 years old and near the peak of her fertility, while Clinton's wife, Hillary Clinton (born in 1947), was 48 years old and had lost her fertility. One way to disguise fertility over longer ages is to use cosmetics that amplify the hints of facial fertility that should have peaked in early adulthood, such as plump lips, watery eyes, protruding cheekbones, smooth and elastic skin, thick and shiny hair, and less facial hair (each of these traits can clearly distinguish not only between women at the peak of fertility and women who are too young or too old, but also to distinguish between human females and other great apes). In almost all cultures, women use cosmetics to make their facial traits look as much as possible to twenty-four or five-year-old women at the peak of their fertility.
For example, eye size, white eye kernel purity, and contrast begin to decline after the peak of fertility at the age of twenty-four or five, so women use eyeliner, eye color, eyebrow oil, eyebrow pencil, and eye drops to make their eyes look bigger and brighter, and to increase the chiaroscuro contrast between pupils, iris, sclera, eyelashes, skin, and eyebrows (in fact, all magazine covers, advertisements, and pictorials use PS retouching to bleach the scleral membranes of female models). The thickness, ruddiness and camber angle of the lips peak at the age of twenty-four or five, forming a fertility marker, so women use lip liner, lip gloss, lip gloss and lip balm to make the lips look fuller and brighter. The prominence and roundness of the "cheekbones" (actually two clumps of estrogen-influenced fat on the surface of the cheekbones) also shrink with age, and the skin on its surface loses a touch of delicate redness caused by vasodilation, so women use blush and eyeshadow to highlight (many models and actresses also implant a small amount of silicone in the upper cheek and extract fat from the lower cheek to make the cheekbone more prominent). The translucent, shiny, flat and smooth skin of women's faces will deteriorate from the age of twenty-four or five, so they use powder and foundation to make the skin color and texture more even, while reducing wrinkles. Hair density, length, saturation and gloss also peak at age 24 or 5, so older women use hair growth shampoos, luster-enhancing conditioners, hair dyes and wigs to mimic hair at peak fertility. Correspondingly, they also use hair removal cream to minimize facial hair, because these hairs are all in the post-menopausal estrogen decline, male hormone rise, such as "CoverGirl" (pictured) Pat McGrath (pictured) such a top makeup master has a superb skill, can use some subtleties to improve the appearance of youth and fertility, and the average person can not see any signs of makeup. As a result, when Molly Sims or Queen Latifah appeared in the cover girl's ad, it always gave the impression of youth, brilliance and fertility in an unobtrusive and spontaneous way, and made most female viewers immediately feel inferior, and they couldn't wait to make themselves look as extremely fertile as they did. When women seek to make themselves look more beautiful, and men seek women who look more beautiful, they often do not consciously understand the connection between beauty and fertility. We just evolved this behavior, as if we knew the connection.
Makeup choices aren't primarily culturally determined, as we initially thought. The ancient Egyptians may not have used eyeliner, but they used eyeshadow powder to increase the visual size of their eyes; they may not have used blush, but they used red ochre to increase the ruddiness of their cheeks; they may not have used powder, but they would use galena (copper, lead ore on the surface) to make the skin tone look more even. But what they all have in common is that they are all trying to increase, not decrease, the facial cues associated with estrogen, youthful sexual maturity and fertility. Although a wide variety of makeup materials, pigments, pigments, and bases are used in a wide variety of cultures, as well as a variety of makeup methods, styles, and patterns, I have never seen women in any culture widely use makeup that makes their eyes look smaller and yellower, their lips look whiter and thinner, or their skin look wrinkled and uneven.
All cosmetics have the same purpose, which is to produce the effect of enhancing the appearance of youth and fertility, which also makes it difficult for cosmetic marketers or product developers to make a lot of money by relying on the real innovation of the cosmetics themselves in function. In the United States, drugs that can truly "treat diseases" can bring substantial benefits after being certified by the Food and Drug Administration, but cosmetics that merely "enhance appearances" do not apply to such legal standards or are protected by such laws. Therefore, cosmetics brands can only differentiate themselves by making breakthroughs in packaging and price, attracting women of all ages, wealth and sexual ability (not to mention fornicators). For example, the Wet'n'Wild brand is more popular with low-status teenagers who often masturbate, while the Shiseido brand is more attractive to high-status young professional women who want to reduce the likelihood of sexual harassment in the workplace through their chastity. More recently, cosmetics have also begun to seek brand differences in the more subtle areas of lifestyle:
● There is traditional romanticism: Chanel, L'Oréal, Lancôme
● Some are under the banner of clinical experience: Clinique, Olay, Neutherine, Prescrip
●Some are eco-friendly naturalism: Body Shop, Avatar, Echo Bella
Some are urban sexy: DuWop, NYX, Smashbox, Urban Decay
Women would be willing to pay extra extra for the brand if they thought the brand would be able to express their personality most effectively, even though the chemical difference between these products was negligible, and most potential male spouses would be unlikely to tell that the recyclable black short square tubes of Echo Bella lipstick should represent environmental awareness, while the fancy round tubes of Urban Decay lipstick should represent the latest trendy post-gothic charm.
From physical display to spiritual display
After reading the above analysis of cosmetics, some people may mistakenly think that the implication is that women show more false physical health hints than men. But in fact, we can make similar analyses of male fashion models, Dancers in Pepperndale, Las Vegas, athletes, Bodybuilders, soldiers, policemen, anthropologists with thick body hair, and users of anabolic steroids, Viagra and Rogaine hair water. Vanity about appearance is a vice of equality between men and women; men simply use different commodities to amplify and display other physical traits. For example, men try to buy extremely high-grade, long-release protein powders, such as Syntha-6, to boost muscle tissue. Advertisements for these products often feature close-ups of muscular male bodies that are hotter than gay. Both men and women use the high-cost signaling principle of ostentatious waste (women widen cheekbones, increase hair density, enlarge chest and buttocks; men increase height, muscles and sexual abilities) and show off precision (symmetry, uprightness, and smoothness of the face and body; minimal wrinkles, protrusions, and scars on the skin; bright dress and dress).
However, many consumers end up disappointed with the enhanced appearance effects promised by these products. They found that youthfulness, temperament, fertility and health are actually very difficult to fake, because people have evolved over thousands of years and have a strong enough ability to distinguish. We have evolved the most sensitive and accurate sensory systems for the things that are critical to social and reproductive success (assessing the physical fitness of others is the most critical of them). We may not be able to tell at a glance which one is the most ripe (the most nutritious and carries the least amount of biotoxins) among the cantaloupes in the fruit and vegetable area, but we can tell at a glance which potential mate in the nightclub is "healthy" (more fertile and carries fewer genetic mutations).
Intelligent adults will eventually understand this to some extent. They will no longer delude themselves into thinking that the goods used to show off their bodies really enhance physical attractiveness, and instead realize that using them to maintain their appearance is an effective way to show their personality traits. The persistent and skillful use of cosmetics, razors, hair care products and fashion can demonstrate individual intelligence, mental health, conscientiousness and self-esteem. As the wife of a filmmaker in her 60s, she is also in her 40s, and Xu Niang is half old, and they know in their hearts that compared to the actresses who are loved by everyone in their 20s, they cannot look back on a purely visual and sexual level. But subconsciously, they know that as long as they can maintain a slim body, a light makeup face and a strong fashion atmosphere, they can also remind their husbands that with wisdom and self-respect, they can still become strong allies for couples at home and abroad, or they can also become terrible opponents in divorce court.
Similarly, if a former college quarterback can maintain his physical shape and physical strength 20 years after marriage, he will not show the physical qualities to resist laziness and gluttony, but his moral self-discipline. Thus, among mature consumers, the use of seemingly superficial cosmetic enhancement products can even convey a very rich set of spiritual and moral traits, rather than just physical traits of temperament, fertility, or health.