Friday, March 5, 2010

Evolutionary Truth in Romance




Apparently, romance novels match up well with current evolutionary thinking:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/mar/04/evolutionary-psychologists-romantic-fiction. Essentially, a common theme in the genre is that you'll find lots of sheriffs, doctors, cowboys who are all brave, handsome, strong, smart and interested in finding just the right woman and no other.


When I was a kid, I recall my mother reading harlequin romance books and I was somewhat fascinated with the covers--a rugged guy with some of his shirt missing looking down at the swooning form of an attractive gal showing something that I later learned was termed as, "cleavage." Great stuff, that cleavage and I've been an appreciative fan ever since. You used to have to go to the movies (or examine your mom's romance novel) to see cleavage--it just didn't show up in the general population. Now, the stuff is everywhere and you even see it at church or a similar setting and it will play hell on your concentration. I'll be kneeling after receiving communion and thinking thoughtful thoughts when all of a sudden I'll spot a fellow parishioner making her way back to the pews with folded hands and flowing cleavage and all of those rightful sentiments immediately evaporate in a cloud of lechery. It's a powerful thing, the strategically positioned female bosom and most women are very much aware of its power--men will perform the most silly tasks (home, car, diamond purchases, etc.) under its influence. Attending a black tie affair of some sort these days will bring out a virtual parade of cleavage and it's awkward many times conversing with a woman that you know from a fairly conservative setting and suddenly she's standing directly in front of you with two fairly obvious features that command obvious attention. Most of the time, you just babble and attempt to not overtly stare and then make up something when the missus later asks what was being discussed. Anyway, I'm fairly enthusiastic about the concept and once again happy I'm not Amish.

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