num_pages: 235
description: "Hersey is exploring the ways that life imitates art, a subject which has been thought about by many observers of both; but here with an additional application of the theory of sexual selection. This book is written with an immense relish that adds strong literary persuasion to its already persuasive argument." -- Anne Hollander, author of "Sex &amp; Suits: The Evolution of Modern Dress" (1995) The beauty of the human body has found a daring beholder in art historian George Hersey, who for the first time brings modern Darwinian theories of sexual selection (mate competition, attractor manipulation, and the like) into the history of art. "The Evolution of Allure" shows how Western art has channeled mate choice, exploiting the cosmetics, clothes, muscles, organs, and ornaments that showcase the body. From the Medici Venus to Vitruvius, Leonardo, Durer, and the phone-sex goddesses of "D-Cup Superstars," Hersey9s lively, erotically charged text shows that the formulas set forth by the Greek sculptor Polykleitos have established a Western canon of human gestures and proportions and may have influenced human evolution.
language: English
title: The Evolution of Allure: Sexual Selection from the Medici Venus to the Incredible Hulk
titlecomplete: The Evolution of Allure: Sexual Selection from the Medici Venus to the Incredible Hulk
genres: History, Psychology
ratings_count: 13
publisher: Mit Pr