..... 9 14
Men of unknown color seek
dark women ........... 3 3
It will be seen that in the case of pigmentation there is not as
in the case of stature a decided charm of parity in the formation
of sexual ideals. The phenomenon, however, remains essentially
analogous. Just as in regard to stature there is without
exception an abstract admiration for tall persons, so here,
though to a less marked extent, there is a general admiration for
dark persons. As many as 6 out of 8 women and 14 out of 21 men
seek a dark partner. This tendency ranges itself with the
considerations already brought forward (p. 182), leading us to
believe that, in England at all events, the admiration of
fairness is not efficacious to promote any sexual selection, and
that if there is actually any such selection it must be put down
to other causes. No doubt, even in England the abstract aesthetic
admiration of fairness is justifiable and may influence the
artist. Probably also it influences the poet, who is affected by
a long-established convention in favor of fairness, and perhaps
also by a general tendency on the part of our poets to be
themselves fair and to yield to the charm of parity,--the
tendency to prefer the women of one's own stock,--which we have
already found to be a real force.
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