I voted for both Ezri and Seven, however the guy is, well, wrong in being right.
What men are attracted to is the 6/7:10 - waist : hip ratio aka the hourglass figure. Why? Because women that have that hip ratio are more fertile, and more likely to produce viable offspring. And the closer a woman gets to that ideal ratio the more fertile she is.
Men instinctively know this, they instinctively look for women to procreate with, and so they consider women with that ratio sexier.
Of course, the rest of the body doesn't matter. She can have big breasts, small breasts, tall, a 100 pounds overweight, or small and petite, it's the waist : hip ratio that's indicator of fertility, and when men see that ratio, they're golden.
So, yes, the corset indeed helped a lot.
Oh my god. There are few things that annoy me as much as these 'evolutionary' theories of sexuality - that basically all human sexuality and relationships amount to procreation, and we're all basically just cavemen, either looking for spread their seeds and find a suitable womb, or walking wombs looking for healthy seed and a big strong protector and the best hunter.
It isn't theory, it's evidence and fact. You ask any man what the most attractive woman is in a line up, and each and every single one will pick the woman that has the figure closest to the 6/7:10 hip : waist ratio. And this is across cultural boundaries, and races.
It's even so much, that a man finds a woman that is ovulating more attractive than a woman who isn't. Subconsciously, through sent/pheromones and other cues he can pick up if a woman is ovulating and zeroes in on it. This happens consistently, again, again, and again in tests.
Just how ridiculous is it to believe that these are the things that motivate people's behavior in the 21st century?! I hoped we had moved on beyond the idea that the main - or even the only - purpose of sex is to have children. It makes no sense at all. If people were attracted to other people because they want to spread their seed or to be fertilized, how do you explain homosexuality? Why would anyone be attracted to people of the same sex?
A hormonal imbalance. More hormones of the opposite sex will make the brain grow more like that of the opposite sex. Enough like the opposite sex will produce sexual attraction of the opposite sex; thus attraction toward the same sex. Produce even more of the hormones, and the brain grows so much of the opposite sex, people will feel like they are the oppoiste sex trapped in the wrong body.
How do you explainpost-menopausal women still being interested in sex? (Or is that one of the reasons some people can't accept the fact that they are?)
Pleasure.
But also sex has evolved a secondary purpose beyond simply pleasure, it strengthens emotional bonds.
That does not however mean, that the mechanism for choosing mates is gone.
How do you explain sterile people being interested in sex?
Because whether or not the seed, or eggs are sterile, this has no impact on the brain.
How do you explain the existence of oral sex, anal sex, BDSM and other forms of non-genital sex?
Because this is pleasurable and strengthens bonds; however this has no impact on brain chemistry and underlying instincts.
Finally, how do you explain why so many people use birth control - if sex is about procreation, why are people having sex while trying hard not to conceive?
Because we have brains so evolved we can think and reason and override (some) instincts; that however does not mean those instincts are gone, or that we can override all of them. For one thing, we must first be aware these instincts exist, before we can recognize their influence and override them.
Yes, secondary sexual characteristics are a big part of the physical attractiveness. But is it that outrageous to suggest that usually this has absolutely nothing to do with finding a mother/father for our children? I do find a masculine shape of the body attractive, broad shoulders and narrow hips, reasonably developed muscles and lower fat percentage, deep voice... but I really do not believe that the reason I find men attractive is because I am subconsciously thinking "This guy looks like he has good genes! He could fertilize us me with his healthy sperm many times!"
And yet tests show we do. Deep down, somewhere at the instinctual level, there is that consideration.
And if I actually find those secondary sexual characteristics attractive because they are sending some sort of message to my sucbonscious mind... well, what if the message is closer to something like: "This guy looks like he has a lot of testosterone, he looks like someone who'd be interested in sex - and um, capable of sex - very often?" How about that? If you ask me, when you find someone sexy, it's because you want to have sex with them. Not because you want to find a healthy womb or good genes for your children.
And why does a person want to have sex with another person, beyond just pleasure, because deep down there's an instinct.
Your problem with these facts seem to be pride: "I'm not an animal." Sorry, but, you are, we all are, a incredibly intelligent and self-aware animal, but still just an animal.
An example of another instinct, this time in females, that on average a woman will wear sexier clothes when she is ovulating; she's in a sexier mood when she can get pregnant. You could override such an instinct if you're aware of them, and look out for when they influence you, but if you're not aware of them, they will influence you.
Another one; a woman is more likely to cheat on her partner while she's ovulating.
We find hairy bodies less attractive, because hair diminishes our cooling mechanism, full body sweating, that keeps our brains from overheating. Less body hair in our mates means offspring with less body hair, thus offspring that would be better and thus has better chances for surviving.
And we can go on and on. These things aren't theory, they're observed facts. Our instincts are a part of us even now.