668 THE DESCENT OF MAN, 



CHAPTER XX. 



SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS OF MAN Continued. 



On the effects of the continued selection of women according to a 

 different standard of beauty in each race On the causes which 

 interfere with sexual selection in civilized and savage nations 

 Conditions favorable to sexual selection during primeval times 

 On the manner of action of sexual selection with mankind On 

 the women in savage tribes having some power to choose their 

 husbands Absence of hair on the body and development of the 

 beard Color of the skin Summary. 



We have seen in the last chapter that with all barbarous 

 races ornaments, dress and external appearance are highly- 

 valued; and that the men judge of the beauty of their 

 women by widely different standards. We must next 

 inquire whether this preference and the consequent selec- 

 tion, during many generations, of those women which 

 appear to the men of each race the most attractive, has 

 altered the character either of the females alone, or of both 

 sexes. With mammals the general rule appears to be that 

 characters of all kinds are inherited equally by the males 

 and females; we might, therefore, expect that with man- 

 kind any characters gained by the females or by the males 

 through sexual selection would commonly be transferred to 

 the offspring of both sexes. If any change has thus been 

 effected it is almost certain that the different races would 

 be differently modified, as each has its own standard of 

 beauty. 



With mankind, especially with savages, many causes 

 interfere with the action of sexual selection as far as the 

 bodily frame is concerned. Civilized men are largely 

 attracted by the mental charms of women, by their wealth, 

 and especially by their social position; for men rarely 

 marry into a much lower rank. The men who succeed in 

 obtaining the more beautiful women will not have a better 

 chance of leaving a long line of descendants than other 



