Alternative hypothesis: it’s all about status. Or more specifically, the markers of status, similar to how beauty is a marker of health and fertility in women. Traits like bravery and confidence are markers of high status, which is required to ask women out, escalate, initiate sex, etc.
Evolution didn’t settle on something robustly aligned to maximize fitness, but it does seem somewhat robust. That is, if people are consciously aware that status/health is being “faked” with confidence/makeup, that seems to have some negative effect if it’s taken too far, but it’s also respected in and of itself if done in moderation, which is interesting.
(This is ofc generalizing, and there are surely many data points that don’t align with the overall statistical trend as I understand it.)
Reality could ofc be some combination of the hypotheses, or nonconsent could be swallowed up by status. That is, nonconsent is itself a signal of high status because high-status men tend to be more ambitious/driven, are unfortunately more able to get away with such things, etc.
Alternative hypothesis: it’s all about status. Or more specifically, the markers of status, similar to how beauty is a marker of health and fertility in women. Traits like bravery and confidence are markers of high status, which is required to ask women out, escalate, initiate sex, etc.
Evolution didn’t settle on something robustly aligned to maximize fitness, but it does seem somewhat robust. That is, if people are consciously aware that status/health is being “faked” with confidence/makeup, that seems to have some negative effect if it’s taken too far, but it’s also respected in and of itself if done in moderation, which is interesting.
(This is ofc generalizing, and there are surely many data points that don’t align with the overall statistical trend as I understand it.)
Reality could ofc be some combination of the hypotheses, or nonconsent could be swallowed up by status. That is, nonconsent is itself a signal of high status because high-status men tend to be more ambitious/driven, are unfortunately more able to get away with such things, etc.