This is pretty random…but on my way to work today, I was thinking about sexual selection and the vivid colors or abnormally large parts some animals grow to attract mates.
At some point, women discovered that wearing make-up made them appear more attractive to males.
So was this, in a way, artificial sexual selection in action? Instead of waiting for evolution to color us to be more attractive, we added this color ourselves?
that’s exactly what it is
-Imp
It extends further than make-up. All forms of fashion are to make the human body more attractive.
Selection occurs if it is or was more successful compared to others and if you look over a long time period. Highlight the advantages you have cover the bad parts. But that’s only one strategy among others. And not only females do it, males too (think of some African ethic groups such as Maasai and nowadays western culture with their male models).
If I remember right even animals do this “cheating”, at least some higher developed species.
but why does it have to be all about you and attracting you (or being selected by you) 
…why couldn’t it be modern day war paint/extended head gear/camouflage and some would feel vulnerable or unprotected without it…or it could just be from sheer vanity …we look good therefore we’d feel good and if men start worshipping the ground we walk upon, why the heck not…
Maybe it is today, but that’s the further development of it. But if you see it from a psychological and/or biologist point of view it is still only for one reason…I think some years or even several hundreds of years cannot cover or replace many thousands of years of evolution.
so everything reduced to sex and food? oh yeah… 
We’re still animals darling. 
I would say that it is ALL about the last two posts - sex, food and our animalistic natures and of course, the survival of the most beautiful and fittest.
Aren’t we just peachy, us humans?
Yes, we are borne out as vain creatures. All of us are slaves to our egos to some extent.
Make-up artists are a celebrity’s best friend!
Its like when a male looks bigger by wearing a bearskin, giant sweater or etc. Theres comparisons with males, just REGULAR old natural adaptations for finding mates. Women will as a group wear MORE makeup, MORE jewelery at their most fertile parts of their cycle (along with other systematic changes in preferences like looks(masculine), talent(over status) and their like of the SMELL of symetrical, masculine men increases drastically (and attraction to it) they like different behaviors more.
Part of a diverse mate finding system. Its been part of our history for long enough its bordering or is biological habit.
no, its not sexual selection. its cultural conditioning.
^ Thats idiotic.
Women in almost every human society attempt to look more beautiful through make-up, clothing, jewelery or etc. They wear more or less DEPENDING on how fertile they are. This IS NOT taught to women, most women don’t even realize their doing it. (changing makeup based on fertility).
Its an adaptation, a MENTAL ONE to FIND MATES, its no different then men acting tough or finding the best bear skins, outside of pure mate finding jewelery and etc is connected to status concerns, people naturally form hiearchies and resource displays help us climb it.
Adornment pre exists our species of human. Its part of our biology, a mental peacock’s feather.
so why do women over 50 wear makeup? ](https://www.ilovephilosophy.com/uploads/default/original/2X/7/7c349bf1053f368a5729d053e1e91215f22ce66c.gif "Brick wall"){kind=small}
social conditioning is what makes women wear makeup. its the same as why you wear nice clothes and comb your hair to look good. or why you work out. or wear sunglasses. or wear deoderant. society demands these things in order that we be accepted. we are raised with the ASSUMPTION ingrained in us that we will conform and follow these countlessly many behavioral patterns.
calling it just “sexual selection” misses the point. we are so far distanced from selection pressures, and these forces have been replaced by social forces and culture. women who wear makeup do not pass along their “makeup wearing” genes any more than women who dont wear makeup. theres no direct connection to reproduction. its cultural conditioning, social phenomenon of conformity and ritualistic acceptance behavior.
So if I become like these guys
I will get more female ass?
Women over 50 have the same adaptations as their younger counter-parts, the only difference is that as a woman ages she begins to prefer status/wealth over talent in mates. Probably because she has less chance to produce healthy offspring. Either way the question IS NONSENSE.
People workout, wear sun glasses, deoderant TO FIND AND ATTRACT MATES, in ALL SOCIETIES, FROM ALL HUMAN HISTORY, humans have done these things, tribal tattoos, neck rings, corsets, skull and bear bones, etc. Its a HUMAN UNIVERSAL, independent of societies. (LIKE LAUGHING OR SMILING).
50year old women also fear bears.
No one in any human society is taught to flucuate jewelery/etc based on fertility, NO ONE KNEW this even happened until careful scientific analysis OF DARWINIAN hypothesis.
Finally, you display true scientific illiteracy. 1. Selection pressure is still strong, lots of the human genome shows signs, the molecular ones of selection. 2. Makeup wearing women DO pass genes more frequently (but they don’t have too today, ONLY IN THE PLACE HUMANS EVOLVED).
Theres a direct correlation between makeup and beauty, blush and lipstick mimic the colors of a young healthy mate, bras make breasts look perkier and fuller (healthier). Like really, you’d have to be ignorant of cross cultural studies to rant such mindless drivel.
As a statistical group women DOLL UP (makeup and etc) based on THEIR FERTILITY level, AS IN, the amount of jewelery/etc is DIRECTLY LINKED to how FERTILE, HOW LIKELY SHE IS TO PRODUCE OFFSPRING. Everyone at any age might wear makeup, but statistically AS A GROUP, its A LOT MORE, A LOT MORE consistantly based on fertility.
The idea makeup doesn’t influence offspring when women have TRENDS BASED ON FERTILITY is idiotic. 50 year old women generally don’t wear makeup like fertile 20year olds as a group. (When they do, they’re PROBABLY TRYING TO look YOUNGER, to attract mates).
Theres a reason why makeup mimics the signs of HEALTH/FITNESS.
Women as a group prefer MORE during high fertility: Masculine men, their smell, talent over status, confidence, this mass preference and behavior change happens to females during high fertility phases, and the makeup TIES INTO THAT.
Makeup attracts mates by making you look healthier, when u are MOST fertile, U want the healthier MATES.
Pisses me off that trends in makeup wearing are directly linked to fertility and mate attraction and some know nothing rants about “society” an explanation for absolutely nothing. Ever. Society isn’t an explanation, its a word for a poorly defined concept.
And a small point to add: Humans beyond their reproductive age and beyond the age that humans could reach for thousands of years (and this long period formed us and is important from an evolutionary point of view), that is to say about 30 years as normal lifespan, are evolutionary worthless and don’t count. And all what those elder people do or who they behave won’t undergo evolution or selection (as they don’t reproduce anymore). Therefore those behaviours can be artefacts or useless or only continuing old habits. It’s just as if they won’t exist.