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Male vs Female in the Peacock/Peahen World: Showy Sexual Selection
First, male vs femaile sexual selection motivations in the peacock/peahen world:
- Peacocks display big showy tails and peahens select the peacock with the biggest, showiest tail to mate with. The peacock’s tail indicates the male’s more-than-adequate survival resources, and, therefore, reproductive fitness.
- Their offspring have genes that ensure continuance of the process, creating a positive-feedback loop. (NOTE: Both sexes carry the “big showy tail” trait, but the trait is only expressed in males.)
- Eventually, the peacock’s tail becomes a handicap instead of a benefit, and the loop gets interrupted.
In humans, we have music-based sexual selection. Musicianship requires a large, highly-functioning brain. Males who display musical skills signal to females that the signaller would make a high quality mate, a mate with a comparatively creative, high-functioning brain. A mate who could make life creative and interesting year after year. Experimental evidence on music preferences indicates that women prefer men who have the ability to surprise them with new songs—to keep them from getting bored with the same old tune. Homo sapiens is a neophilic species: we just love novelty. It’s what fuels the entertainment industry.