Why do humans have so many fetishes? Why is there no specific trait for attractivness?

[Plazmatic]

Humans are weird beyond belief when you think about it, unlike other animals, like birds or lizards and mammals like bison etc, who have traits that each species looks for, like colors of the throut area, or how big the animal is, humans share no such uniform definition of attractiveness. there is no limit, even out of range of species, or even other living or nonreal/ inanimate objects that humans can be sexually attracted to. Humans seem capable of anything but the point of a human being sickly, for example, some one with the flu (though even that may not be true) of whether or not they want propagate.

Traits that you would think would be naturally selected for in humans, for example, big breasts in women, are not even across the board, or even in the majority. Even greater male physical fitness is not chosen explicitly, and in some cases female fitness is to an extreme degree. In fact large portions of the population even choose the over weight preferably, rather than fit people, and sometimes even people already pregnant, which would have no reproductive benifits at all. Then people can become attracted to the impossible, things like giantess/giants, or furries, or cartoon characters, to things like, well monsters, to vore etc...

can any one explain to me why this is?

 

[Bon_Clay]

Well certain things like symmetry showing healthy genetic material and signs of fertility/well suited to procreation have been pretty common to what people find attractive throughout history.

I think its just because of the development of our brains, we have enough room for the development of more complicated preferences, and the ability to override normal evolutionary traits with how we're raised and what we experience.

 

[Leon Last Lord Shyle]

A factor that comes into it is what is unattainable for many century's fat was considered attractive not because it was, but because being fat meant money, status, and the fact of success

what we see as attractive these days (although of course it is subject to personal opinion and the norm isn't what many go for) is generally what costs the most at the plastic surgeon.

 

[banthesun]

Genetic diversity - One of the least understood parts of Darwin's theory. 'Survival of the fittest' doesn't mean consistently selecting certain traits towards a particular evolutionary goal. When a species has a lot of genetic diversity it means they're more able to resist things that may otherwise wipe them out. In animals, this means certain traits will be favoured because they are more likely to survive, causing them to come to prevalence over traits that find it die off more often. Human society doesn't really work this way, since the society as a whole supports individuals (to a certain extent), but genetic diversity is still considered biologically desirable.

TLDR: Being different is more important than being 'perfect', from an evolutionary perspective.

 

[Morderkaine]

Because we are all different.
And how do you know about other species? Granted there are animals where, for example, a mating call or dance is used to attract a female, but is the best at it ALWAYS chosen first? How can you really tell what the animal is thinking? Some mate for life, others dont. If you know people who have cats, or dogs, look at all of them and see if you can see distinct personalities amongst them. I can easily see different likes, tastes, personalities, etc amongst all the cats I know, and that is even more so amongst people.
Differences between animals of the same species (including humans here) is a part of DNA and evolution and is required for our long term surivial. If everyone was the exact same, it wouldnt work.
You may as well ask why some people eat lima beans and other hate them.
Other influences are social - chubby women were considered to be desireable in the past due to them being well off enough to feed themselves well and being rich compared to others in the same time period. Skinny women are considered more attractive in other eras, and who knows what the future will bring? Men could be admired for physical fitness in one time, and for intelligence in another, depending on the social requirements of the time.
Mix these influences, the differences between people caused by genetics and also nuture and experiences as we grow, add a touch of crazy and any fetish is possible and common with so bloddy many of us. Even if Furries are 0.001% of the population that still means there are 1 million of them.
There is your answer, there are over 10 billion people now, and each can be affected by their genetics, upbringing, experiences and social pressures, which are all unique overall for each person. And the animal mating habits you mentioned are the general habits observed and reported - if 90% of birds like the loudest chirper and 10% liked the quietest, well the study will still say the loudest ones get the mates.

 

[ace_of_something]

A Fetish is specific to a person and is typically 'learned' or nurture. The baseline things tend to be nature (or inherit without being learned).
The only one I can think of that is constant in nearly all cultures is we like mates with symmetrical features. And that women prefer taller men over shorter (to protect the babies!)

anyone that replies to tell me they like short men... please don't. You missed the point.

 

[iblis666]

i just figure we humans start off with no real focus and as such will hump anything but as time goes by people get more refined in what they are attracted to which when taken even further becomes a fetish

 

[Radoh]

Because people are varied in there level of silliness of course.
Can you even imagine how boring it would be to have two people in the world universally recognized as the most attractive man and woman on the planet? I can, it would be boring.
I know that this explains nothing of what you were asking but I thought I should post anyways.

 

[Plazmatic]

]

Because we are all different.
And how do you know about other species? Granted there are animals where, for example, a mating call or dance is used to attract a female, but is the best at it ALWAYS chosen first? How can you really tell what the animal is thinking? Some mate for life, others dont. If you know people who have cats, or dogs, look at all of them and see if you can see distinct personalities amongst them. I can easily see different likes, tastes, personalities, etc amongst all the cats I know, and that is even more so amongst people.
Differences between animals of the same species (including humans here) is a part of DNA and evolution and is required for our long term surivial. If everyone was the exact same, it wouldnt work.
You may as well ask why some people eat lima beans and other hate them.
Other influences are social - chubby women were considered to be desireable in the past due to them being well off enough to feed themselves well and being rich compared to others in the same time period. Skinny women are considered more attractive in other eras, and who knows what the future will bring? Men could be admired for physical fitness in one time, and for intelligence in another, depending on the social requirements of the time.
Mix these influences, the differences between people caused by genetics and also nuture and experiences as we grow, add a touch of crazy and any fetish is possible and common with so bloddy many of us. Even if Furries are 0.001% of the population that still means there are 1 million of them.
There is your answer, there are over 10 billion people now, and each can be affected by their genetics, upbringing, experiences and social pressures, which are all unique overall for each person. And the animal mating habits you mentioned are the general habits observed and reported - if 90% of birds like the loudest chirper and 10% liked the quietest, well the study will still say the loudest ones get the mates.

A factor that comes into it is what is unattainable for many century's fat was considered attractive not because it was, but because being fat meant money, status, and the fact of success

what we see as attractive these days (although of course it is subject to personal opinion and the norm isn't what many go for) is generally what costs the most at the plastic surgeon.

1, on both of yours you say that fat was chosen because of status, I am not talking about that, im talking about genuine attractiveness based on the physical attribute, not the status of the person, and yes, true fat fetishes do exist and are widespread, today, irrespective of economic status.

2. there are about 7 billion, not 10billion people in the world,

3. one huge question is what causes fetishes that exist in humans, to the exotic degree, ones based on still fixed human bodies can be hypothesized to why they exist, but things like flurries, or even further, inanimate object or fictitious un human looking characters are seemingly unexplainable.

 

[Plazmatic]

A Fetish is specific to a person and is typically 'learned' or nurture. The baseline things tend to be nature (or inherit without being learned).
The only one I can think of that is constant in nearly all cultures is we like mates with symmetrical features. And that women prefer taller men over shorter (to protect the babies!)

anyone that replies to tell me they like short men... please don't. You missed the point.

then you have missed my point, the fact that women who like shorter men DO exist, why do they? Also, I have yet to see fetishes be something "learned" but more or less be completely random and irrespective to the parent, so seemingly not passed on.

 

[DefunctTheory]

With increased complexity comes the increased likelihood of fault or error.

Which isn't to say fetishes are WRONG, only that with a more complex brain functions, human beings have a higher chances of 'breaking,' or displaying characteristics not determined by our genetics or sociological norms.

Same as machines. The more complicated the machine, the more likely it is to throw a gear loose.

 

[ace_of_something]

A Fetish is specific to a person and is typically 'learned' or nurture. The baseline things tend to be nature (or inherit without being learned).
The only one I can think of that is constant in nearly all cultures is we like mates with symmetrical features. And that women prefer taller men over shorter (to protect the babies!)

anyone that replies to tell me they like short men... please don't. You missed the point.

then you have missed my point, the fact that women who like shorter men DO exist, why do they? Also, I have yet to see fetishes be something "learned" but more or less be completely random and irrespective to the parent, so seemingly not passed on.

sturgeon's law always ALWAYS applies to anything relating to human behavior. 'Nurture' and 'Nature' are terms used over and over in psychology texts books and nearly anything a person does falls into one of those two categories. 'Nuture' in this case, is not necessarily learned from a parent in the same way that driving a car is. It's 'learned' because it's developed over your life experiences and not inborn.
A Fetish might have absolutely nothing to do with your parents at all and isn't 'passed on' in any way.

I was just putting in my two cents if you're really that curious on theories of the matter might i suggest cracking open a book or hitting up the APA's website?
99% of the people on this or any other website are just guessing and pulling this stuff out of their butt.

Signed,
Thor, MS in Sociology and Criminology

edit: Plus Some people who ARE knowledgeable on the subject might not be good teachers and explain it very poorly. Kinda like myself.

 

[BrassButtons]

There aren't many selective pressures against fetishes. In the wild if an animal chooses a mate that is weak, the babies might be weak as well and they will die, thus preventing the spread of whatever trait lead to the interest in weak mates to begin with. However if someone with an attraction to overweight people has kids, chances are the kids aren't going to die before having children of their own, so the trait for attraction to overweight people has a chance to continue.

Though I'm not going to assume that there's no variation in animal attractions, either. As long as the variation doesn't decrease the likelihood of reproducing there's no reason it couldn't happen.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Because people with sadistic tendencies like to tie up other people for pleasure. As humans gain exposure to new inventions or schools of thought, they react differently, and sometimes sexually, hence fetishes.

 

[flagship]

The same reason sex is taboo, because it makes it more fun. People actually enjoy the fact that sex is a risqué topic, the mystery adds the flavor.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

Diversity.

Respectfully, you might wanna hit the dictionaries every once in a while.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Because god is kinky and he made us in his image.

I must say, this is a more fun interpretation of the almighty.

*imagines heaven*

OT: Our brains are all wired differently. Go figure that we're not all turned on in the same ways.