Off Topic — HabitableZone

Off Topic » in reply to re: I heard a theory on the Discovery Channel, once

Off the top of my head...
Fox — (archived)

Basically (IMO), you have to go back before cultural behavior placed constraints on 'natural' -- i.e. instinctive -- behavior. Remember that our species (and its predecessors) evolved in conditions so harsh that to live past one's 30s was rare, and that male roles/duties put them considerably more into harm's way than the females...

Optimum reproductive patterns would tend to keep females sexually active and fertile for a larger fraction of their lives. Males needed to 'peak' earlier, while they were still alive and healthy. There was neither monogamy nor monoandry, nor cultural biases against couplings between partners of disparate ages. What little I know about primate anthropology leads me to think that the elder, more powerful females of a band derive their status, at least in part, from successful matings with the young studs.

[Keep in mind that success is measured by viable offspring, not 'scoring'... ;) ]

What we have now, of course, is a mere ten thousand years of cultural constraint fighting against biology which, in essence, hasn't changed in a few million years.

The same 'ancient biology' argument might explain the tendency for modern male humans to continue to hark after females of the age they were when at their peak... The 'age of consent' is a relatively recent constraint on reproductive behavior, whereas in ancestral times the onset of menses, and the pheromones that accompany it, were a clear signal of fair game.

On the other hand, it all could be one of those 'recapture of lost youth' things, women being as susceptible as men to what nowadays is called mid-life crisis.

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