Considering that in the animal world (most of the) males are the more beautiful of a pair (think plumage and songs), is this also true in humans?

No. This was settled decisively in the case of Penis v. Vagina.

I would say no. I don’t know why this is… maybe because human females have such a need to be loved.

I would not describe it as a beautiful feature, but the length of the human penis is huge compared to other primates. I submit they have evolved in humans that way as a form of “plumage”.

Source:Man is the ape, the monkey and the primate with the biggest penis!

^eyesroll
I think beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I have seen men and women who take my breath away.

My opinion is the women are more beautiful if I have to choose. Even if we aren’t in nature, which I submit women are, they are the ones who spend more time beautifying themselves to attract men. Make-up, hair style, even undergarments to put everything in the right place. Humans are somewhat outside of animal instinct in that we are more cerebral, and other things factor in than just physical stregnth or physical beauty. The human race is high on the food chain more because of our intelligence than out physical stregnth or outward appearance.

From an evolutionary perspective, the more decorated (or beautiful) sex is usually the one that is being chosen for sex, and the less decorated/beautiful sex is the one doing the choosing.

I agree with @nikipedia and in humans I think it’s mostly men doing the choosing, so it’s the women who decorate themselves more.

Unequivocally no.

No, I don’t think it’s true. Do you?

J Lo and Marc Anthony? I don’t think so.

It’s obvious that women are more beautiful then men in humans. Men prefer to look at women, but women also prefer to look at women. No one really wants to look at the male form as much as the female form. I like the who chases whom argument, too. As to why this is the case in humans, I don’t have a clue.

Evolutionary biology tells us that it falls down to who is doing the picking of the mate. With birds, the malse have to show their wonderfulness to the female in hopes that she picks him. Remember, she has to sit still long enough to allow him to do his thing and not fly off.

We have a culture a tad more complex than the birds and the bees. If you think about it, the women need to attract the man who is going to, hopefully, care enough about her to stick around for some 15 years or so because our young need more care. We don’t kick the babies out of the nest after a few weeks and start the whole thing over the next season. For better or worse, culturally, women have had to rely on the man to protect and provide for her and the brood they produce for years, not just a simple spring and summer. The more men she attracts to herself, the better her chances are of finding the one that she hopes will offer the best life for her and the babies she’ll have. Sound cold and unromantic? Yep.

I’m not sure the who chases who explanation works. In nature isn’t the male more beautiful hoping the female will accept his advances? The male is still chasing the female, hoping he can boink her. I guess it is the female choosing in that she is accepting his proposition, but it is different than humans.

I love the story of one of the flightless birds in New Zealand. The Kakapo is a flightless parrot. The males attract their mate by digging a hole and then making a low booming noise/call. They hide in a hole and make a call that is the most difficult to determine the direction of. Needless to say, this bird is highly endangered.

@cazzie That’s hysterical. And, sad.

Beauty is in the account of the (gold) credit card holder!
I’m going to say no on this one.

With regard to the “chasing theory,” it’s worth noting that human males still have a definite tendency to be flashy and extravagant even if they are not any more beautiful for doing so. That is to say, human males tend to make up for their lack of aesthetic superiority through other actions. Insofar as human females find this more attractive than plumage, it’s a fine strategy.

@SavoirFaire Generally, I don’t think of men to be flashy or extravagant, especially caucasian men, especially regarding clothing. Maybe cars are an exception.

@JLeslie I’m thinking about things like building bridges—or blowing them up. Clothes and cars are small time on the scale of male extravagance.

@SavoirFaire Oh, hahaha. But, the questions is about male feathers.

@JLeslie Indeed. But lacking feathers, and given the state of men’s fashion, we must resort to other things.

@SavoirFaire I think human males “bragging feathers” are their car and the size of their paycheck.

@downtide Indeed. I agreed when @JLeslie mentioned cars. It seems to me, though, that men do as many extravagant things as they buy when trying to impress. It’s a total package.