Film #2 The Science of Sex Appeal

The Science of Sex Appeal

Film #2
The Science of Sex Appeal
This is the second of three essay prompts addressing documentaries we watch in
class. Remember, you are required to write two of these essays this semester.
Sexual attraction and behavior are sensitive and complex aspects of our lives, and there are
many personal, social, and cultural reasons why we may feel uneasy about examining them.
Evolutionary psychologists have attempted to understand the biological factors that influence
these behaviors. Unfortunately, because they hypothesize that the ultimate underlying factor
behind attraction and sex is reproduction (i.e., getting your genes into the next generation), many
evolutionary psychologists have focused primarily on heterosexual individuals and experiences.
While there are some exceptions, many theorists believe that the same underlying processes
influence people of all sexual orientations, but just in different ways. Of course, this can ignore or
marginalize the experience of many people.
In class, we watched a film, The Science of Sex Appeal, that examines several biological factors
that shape our most intimate experiences with others. Now that you have watched the film,
please consider both of the following questions: (1) How do you think that biological factors
influence sexual attraction and behavior? How are our subjective feelings of attraction influenced
by objective biological factors? (2) How has this approach and research ignored the experience
of people who do not identify as heterosexual? How do you think this heterosexual bias may
have limited our understanding of human sexual attraction and behavior? Use at least three
examples, studies, or cases from the film to support both questions, and be sure to discuss them
in detail.

Answer Preview…………….

Recent sex appeal research has diverted from the traditional physical attraction theory to analyzing objective biological factor, which provides a standard of attraction for different individuals, thereby fulfilling individual subjective requirements leading to sexual attraction. A critical analysis of the documentary “The Science of Sex Appeal” exposes the fact that while there is a robust influence of objective biological factors on heterosexual sexual appeals, non-heterosexual sexual attraction invalidates objective biological factors as the sole primary drivers of human sexual appeal………..

APA 440 words