In today’s New York Times, Stephen Pinker evaluates research exploring a possible link between genes and sexual orientation. He writes:
“Homosexuality is a puzzle for biology, not because homosexuality itself is evolutionarily maladaptive (though no more so than any other sexual act that does not result in conception), but because any genetic tendency to avoid heterosexual opportunities should have been selected out long ago. Perhaps ‘gay genes’ have some other compensating advantage, like enhancing fertility…”
Now, this is mostly tongue-in-cheek, but could the above analysis suggest an explanation for the widespread perception that gay men are disproportionately handsome? Perhaps the ‘gay genes’ that have survived over the centuries are the ones carried by men so pretty that women practically tackle them.
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