Evidence proving that primitive women are influenced in their choice of
a mate by æsthetic considerations appears to be almost as scant as among
animals. Darwin, however, tries to prove that men owe their beards to
sexual or female selection; and the following more general instances may
be cited for what they are worth: Azara “describes how carefully a Guana
woman bargains for all sorts of privileges before accepting some one or
more husbands; and the men in consequence take unusual care of their
personal appearance.” Among the Kaffirs “very ugly, though rich men,
have been known to fail in getting wives. The girls, before consenting
to be betrothed, compel the men to show themselves off first in front
and then behind, and ‘exhibit their paces.’”
In general, however, it seems that the women choose, not the handsomest
men, but those whose boldness, pugnacity, and virility promise them the
surest protection against enemies, and general domestic delights. Thus,
we read that “before he is allowed to marry, a young Dyack must prove
his bravery by bringing back the head of an enemy;” and that when the
Apaches warriors return unsuccessful, “the women turn away from them
with assured indifference and contempt. They are upbraided as cowards,
or for want of skill and tact, and are told that such men should not
have wives.”
It must be remembered, however, that (as we have seen in the case of
plants and animals) the greatest amount of health, vigour, and courage
generally coincide with the greatest physical beauty; hence the
continued preference of the most energetic and lusty men by the superior
women who have a choice, has naturally tended to evolve a superior type
of manly beauty.
In the case of men it seems much more probable that they frequently
select their wives in accordance with an æsthetic standard. The chiefs
of almost every tribe throughout the world have more than one wife; and
Mr. Mantell informed Darwin that until recently almost every girl in New
Zealand who was pretty, or promised to be pretty, was _tapu_ to some
chief; while among the Kaffirs, according to Mr. C. Hamilton, “the
chiefs generally have the pick of the women for many miles round, and
are most persevering in establishing or confirming their privilege.” In
the lower tribes, where “communal marriage” and marriage by Capture
alone prevail, æsthetic choice is of course out of the question, and
cannot make its appearance till we come to less pugnacious tribes, such
as the Dyacks, whose children “have the freedom implied by regular
courtship,” or the Samoans, whose children “have the degree of
independence implied by elopements when they cannot obtain parental
assent to their marriage” (Spencer).
In general, however, among the lower races, Sexual or æsthetic Selection
leads to sorry results, owing to the bad taste of the selectors. The
standard of primitive taste is not harmonious proportion and capacity
for expression, but Exaggeration. The negro woman has naturally thicker
lips, more prominent cheek-bones, and a flatter nose than a white woman;
and in selecting a mate, preference is commonly given to the one whose
lips are thickest, nose most flattened, and cheek-bones most prominent:
thus producing gradually that monster of ugliness—the average negro
woman. What right we have to set ourselves up as judges, and claim that
our taste is superior to the negro’s, is a question which will be
discussed in a subsequent section of this treatise.
One other point, however, may be referred to here, namely, that although
the æsthetic overtone of Love—the Admiration of Personal Beauty—may
enter into a savage’s amorous feelings, it is only the sensuous aspect
of it that affects him, the intellectual and moral sides being unknown
to him. His admiration is purely physical. He marries his chosen bride
when she is a mere child, and before the slightest spark of mental charm
can illumine her features and impart to them a superior beauty; and
subsequently, when experience has somewhat sharpened her intellectual
powers, hard labour has already destroyed all traces of her physical
beauty so that the combination of physical and mental charms which alone
can inspire the highest form of Love is never to be found in primitive
woman.