[MP-Ryan]

Not obesity per se, but the more general thread of how much a role sexual selection plays in determining body shape (as much as it can be controlled through genes), and in determining sexual preference.  For example, there are obvious sexual selection reasons for favouring, ummm, larger bodied (but not obsese or of a 'liability' physical state) in early evolutionary terms, but I'm curious as to the weight that has on the overall mechanisms for sexual preference and how it interplays with the societal role.  In essence, whether there is or was a general trend towards sexually selecting larger women (or men, I guess, although I think weight is more important in child nurturing ability for woman - offhand) in human evolution (I would expect so, and IIRC it's still evidenced in African societies for example), and how much of that trend is preserved in the genetics of attraction, and indeed how much those genetics may have changed over the years, plus finally how important overall genes are in determining what attracts us vis-a-vis the general miasma of society.

I'm not sold on the idea of a true genetic component in attraction.  'Genetic' denotes inherited - we have have biological programs that contribute to sexual attraction, but they aren't inherited directly (check out the genetics of homosexuals and transsexuals... highly fascinating subject).

Genetics might be important in indirect programming of attraction, but I don't think it's so specific as to start differentiating body weights.  Even if it were, human cognition and behaviour play a larger role.

I'm certainly not one to denounce the relevance and importance of genetics (hell, if I were I should have done a different degree I guess ) but this is one field where it's way too easy to abuse the science and oversimplify what's going on, and that's all I'm really cautioning about.  We still haven't figured out how human eye colour is inherited - do you really think we have any clue as to how attraction is coded in our biology?

[IceFire]

I'm not an expert on the subject...but its my personal experience that different body types and different personality types seem to be correlated to some degree.

There's no scientific basis for that though.  We can all think of anecdotal examples, but personal stories do not make for empirically testable hypotheses =)

This is why I said they were total scientific nonsense - the historical association of body type to personality.

I realize anecdotes do not make a scientific theory

But I feel pretty strongly, personally...and maybe this is a matter of terms and defining them...that people of different body types tend to act differently.  Perhaps it has nothing to do with body type specifically but other factors that go along with that.  In my mind it makes sense

[Ulala]

While it may be true, it's also true that there's always exceptions to the rule.

[aldo_14]

Not obesity per se, but the more general thread of how much a role sexual selection plays in determining body shape (as much as it can be controlled through genes), and in determining sexual preference.  For example, there are obvious sexual selection reasons for favouring, ummm, larger bodied (but not obsese or of a 'liability' physical state) in early evolutionary terms, but I'm curious as to the weight that has on the overall mechanisms for sexual preference and how it interplays with the societal role.  In essence, whether there is or was a general trend towards sexually selecting larger women (or men, I guess, although I think weight is more important in child nurturing ability for woman - offhand) in human evolution (I would expect so, and IIRC it's still evidenced in African societies for example), and how much of that trend is preserved in the genetics of attraction, and indeed how much those genetics may have changed over the years, plus finally how important overall genes are in determining what attracts us vis-a-vis the general miasma of society.

I'm not sold on the idea of a true genetic component in attraction.  'Genetic' denotes inherited - we have have biological programs that contribute to sexual attraction, but they aren't inherited directly (check out the genetics of homosexuals and transsexuals... highly fascinating subject).

Genetics might be important in indirect programming of attraction, but I don't think it's so specific as to start differentiating body weights.  Even if it were, human cognition and behaviour play a larger role.

I'm certainly not one to denounce the relevance and importance of genetics (hell, if I were I should have done a different degree I guess ) but this is one field where it's way too easy to abuse the science and oversimplify what's going on, and that's all I'm really cautioning about.  We still haven't figured out how human eye colour is inherited - do you really think we have any clue as to how attraction is coded in our biology?

Nope - but it's an interesting question, dontchathink? Certainly body weight would be too simplistic to be a singular determinant for attraction, but it'd be interesting to know if it (weight, and specifically weight preference potentially encoded in genes) can be used as a proxy for fitness & parental contribution akin to a peacocks tail, and to see - if so - exactly what role it contributes on an overall level to attraction.

Although I do recall there's some strong evidence for a genetic component in sexual attraction/selection for certain animals, I think in particular African long-tail swallows?

[Wobble73]

Not obesity per se, but the more general thread of how much a role sexual selection plays in determining body shape (as much as it can be controlled through genes), and in determining sexual preference.  For example, there are obvious sexual selection reasons for favouring, ummm, larger bodied (but not obsese or of a 'liability' physical state) in early evolutionary terms, but I'm curious as to the weight that has on the overall mechanisms for sexual preference and how it interplays with the societal role.  In essence, whether there is or was a general trend towards sexually selecting larger women (or men, I guess, although I think weight is more important in child nurturing ability for woman - offhand) in human evolution (I would expect so, and IIRC it's still evidenced in African societies for example), and how much of that trend is preserved in the genetics of attraction, and indeed how much those genetics may have changed over the years, plus finally how important overall genes are in determining what attracts us vis-a-vis the general miasma of society.

I'm not sold on the idea of a true genetic component in attraction.  'Genetic' denotes inherited - we have have biological programs that contribute to sexual attraction, but they aren't inherited directly (check out the genetics of homosexuals and transsexuals... highly fascinating subject).

Genetics might be important in indirect programming of attraction, but I don't think it's so specific as to start differentiating body weights.  Even if it were, human cognition and behaviour play a larger role.

I'm certainly not one to denounce the relevance and importance of genetics (hell, if I were I should have done a different degree I guess ) but this is one field where it's way too easy to abuse the science and oversimplify what's going on, and that's all I'm really cautioning about.  We still haven't figured out how human eye colour is inherited - do you really think we have any clue as to how attraction is coded in our biology?

Nope - but it's an interesting question, dontchathink? Certainly body weight would be too simplistic to be a singular determinant for attraction, but it'd be interesting to know if it (weight, and specifically weight preference potentially encoded in genes) can be used as a proxy for fitness & parental contribution akin to a peacocks tail, and to see - if so - exactly what role it contributes on an overall level to attraction.

Although I do recall there's some strong evidence for a genetic component in sexual attraction/selection for certain animals, I think in particular African long-tail swallows?

I remember seeing an experiment with three yellow breasted birds (maybe finches, can't really remember that well), one female and two male. Anyway, the thing that gave the birds the yellow breasts was something to do with their diet. They were all put into three adjoining cages, the female bird could see either male, but the males could not see each other. One of the males was deprived of the ingredient that gave it the yellow breast, the other wasn't. The female choose to perch nearer the cage with the male with the most yellow breast than the other. I thought this was an interesting experiment to do with diet and sexual selection.

[aldo_14]

There was one with, I think, African long-tailed swallows that artificially extended their tails (the longer tails are less flight efficient but more 'attractive') and measured attraction; I remember reading about it in, I think, The Blind Watchmaker and, I think, it showed a degree of inherited attraction.  Although obviously human attraction is rather more complicated.