580 THE DESCENT OF MAN. 



CHAPTER XX. 



SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS OP MAN— Continued. 



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

 ferent standard of beauty in each race— On the causes which inter- 

 fere with sexual selection in civilized and savage nations — Condi- 

 tions 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 prefer- 

 ence 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 mankind 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 men with plainer wives, save the few who bequeath 

 their fortunes according to primogeniture. With respect to the 

 opposite form of selection, namely of the more attractive men oy 

 the women, although in civilized nations women have free or 



