Chap. XX.] SEXUAL SELECTION: MAN. 339 



CHAPTER XX. 



Secondary Sexual Characters op Man — continued. 



On the EiFects of the Continued Selection of "Women according to a 

 Ditt'erent Standard of Beauty in each Eace. — 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 Hus- 

 bands. — 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 barbar- 

 ous 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 

 selection 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 through sexual selection by 

 the females would commonly be transferred to the oft- 

 spring of both sexes. If any change has thus been ef- 

 fected it is almost certain that the different races will have 

 been differently modified, as each has its own standard of 

 beauty. 



With mankind, especially with savages, many causes 



