Recently, I went on a “date” with a guy I met at the Golden Words “Love Is Blindfolded” event. Nearing the middle of the date, he leaned down to kiss me with his nose poking me in the eye. In the moment I laughed, but when I got home I began to reflect.
I’d like to think that I don’t have a set type when it comes to my love life but I noticed there seemed to be a correlation between the men I find attractive and their nose size. Every single guy I’ve considered an eligible bachelor had somewhat of a larger nose. With this observation, naturally, I decided to test out this theory; not by spinning back, but by research!
I already know that attraction is a biological and psychological response to our reproductive instincts so I know it’s not entirely in my control.
Out in the wild, animals rarely mate with their close relatives, due to the Westermarck effect. This effect argues that when you grow up with someone, your brain tags them as “not a mate,” an evolutionary protection against inbreeding to keep the genetic pool strong.
In early humans we see the Westermarck effect play out in matriarchal and matrilineal tribes through exogamy. Mixing genes meant stronger immune systems, healthier kids, and bigger social networks, which is an advantage for trade. This practice is why Africa carries the world’s richest gene pool and why Africans are the most genetically diverse than the rest of the world combined.
Biologist Claus Wedekind ran the “Sweaty T-Shirt Experiment” in 1990. This experiment had women smell two shirts worn by two separate men. He then had them choose which scent they found attractive. Wedekind concluded that most women preferred the scent of men whose immune system genes, MHC (Major Histocompatibility Complex), were different from them, arguing that our MHC can help us determine who smells “right.” Furthermore, evolutionary theorists suggest we find foreign accents attractive because it signals to our brain a more exotic gene pool. We can audibly hear that someone with an accent is different from us. Due to my ethnic background, I have a smaller nose with a flatter nose bridge. So, men with big noses signal to me that they aren’t my kinship.
It isn’t only science, but ancient Romans and European Aristocrats that agree with me. Ancient Romans considered larger noses as a sign of leadership and intelligence, while European Aristocracy associated this with nobility and strong lineage. I do love intelligent men so maybe the ancient Romans were onto something…
Genetics wants us to avoid incest, evolution wants life to mix and I want a man with a big nose.