Diversity in sexual attraction found in people
is a fundamental aspect of human biology,
yet it’s actually been poorly described
or poorly theorized in previous evolutionary
biology.
I don’t know if people know so much about
sociobiology specifically, but one way to
get at that might be to talk about the definition
of fitness and how that lead to certain views
about the inevitability of adaptation as a
strong force; The beauty happens theory is
the idea that ornament evolves merely because
it’s attractive or beautiful.
The beauty happens idea is contrasted with
the more popular theory that comes from Alfred
Russell Wallace about the evolution of ornament
as a kind of practical indicator of mate quality.
The aesthetic view of evolution provides some
really interesting insights into the evolution
of human sexuality, and in particular human
sexual diversity.
So individuals that are attracted to the same
sex are frequently imagined to evolve because
they provide help to their kin, that is, if
there are some people in any social group
that are non-reproductive because of their
sexual preferences then they will be helping
with raising of their nieces and nephews.
This is sort of the “helpful uncle” hypothesis.
The problem with that idea is that it should
actually lead to a kind of asexual phenotype
or an asexual behavior; it doesn’t actually
describe the evolution of sexual attraction
itself.
Well the aesthetic view of evolution proposes
that we should put subjective experience—that
is, the nature of animal and human desire—at
the center of our scientific explanation.
So in order to explain same sex attraction
in people we need to actually ask: how could
same sex attraction actually evolve?
Well, in the book I propose that human same
sex attraction evolved specifically because
it contributed to female sexual autonomy or
to the freedom of choice.
What I mean by that is that in the case of
female/female sexual relationships they could
contribute to female alliances that could
protect females from sexual coercion by male
hierarchical groups.
At the same time I propose that male/male
sexual attraction could have evolved because
any social situation in which males have multiple
sexual outlets would have contributed to female
freedom to move among individuals in that
social system and to avoid coercion and sexual
violence.
This is a new aesthetic theory of the evolution
of same-sex behavior in people, and I think
it’s one that deserves really serious consideration
as we move forward.
