ANT 3541 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Marvin Harris, Neophobia, Aposematism
Document Summary
How colors attract mates and preferred colors in sexual settings. Research has shown that women wear more red when they want to mate. Red is associated with sexual fertility in non human primates. There is some evidence that says that women choose red clothing when they are trying to convey their sexual intent. Black may be due to more social and cultural reasons compared to red being evolutionary. Just as birds showing their feathers, humans show off by wearing bright colors. The study found that people did prefer the color red more in the real world in first date setting. Black was found to be worn the most. The study concluded that black may be more attractive due to cultural reasons yet red is preferred due to evolutionary factors. In societies - the preferred colors will vary. In our culture black is the mourning color. In oriental cultures white is associated with mourning and death.
