Middle-aged men who embarrass their children with flamboyant dance moves now have the perfect excuse – evolution.
The cringeworthy “dad dancing” witnessed at wedding receptions every weekend may be an unconscious way in which ageing males repel the attention of young women, leaving the field clear for men at their sexual peak.
“The message their dancing sends out is ‘stay away, I’m not fertile’,” said Dr Peter Lovatt, a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire who has compared the dancing styles and confidence levels of nearly 14,000 people.
Telegraph (thanks, KirstyJ)
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WOW. no words
Vaguely plausible, I suppose, but it does rather smell of the ‘Just So Story’ style (or if you prefer, West Coast) of ‘evolutionary narrative’ to explain everything through evolutionary advantages.
No problem Philly D, whoop.
Gosh, when did males suddenly lose fertility in their middle age?
My god .. those psychologists do take it a bit too far. I’ve seen tons of young guys doing dances that were not really that attractive at all .. nor showing that they were at their sexual peek. Free choice when to see to sexuality I’d say. And some do adore a bit older guys having fun on the dancefloor, who no longer need to see to that type of male hormones .. simply see to their fun.
The same goes for female.
And erm .. slightly older female might be attracted by those slightly older dancing guys … isn’t it the case in animal world that male should do the dancing in front of the female they wish to conquer?
Above all .. ofcourse .. matter of taste .. (also towards type of dancing).
Okay, all middle aged people and older … shake that booty … climb on top of that body … hang it out there .. the real thing.
My little cousin of 5 does have moves which def. would be seen upon as sexual peeking on the dancefloor when he had been older … Elvis .. Michael Jackson … shake those hips … hump the counter …. We older people then sort of chuckle … we are no longer allowed to make that moves in the middle of the crowd, let alone in a supermarket … And then he wraps his arms around my hips, looking up with big bright eyes … Who do you think female like best?
Very hard to see how bad dancing would be selected for in evolution, especially in males with little impregnating potential left. Whoever wrote this seems to have been seduced by the idea of group rather than individual selection.
hahaha I’m SO sending this to my dad
This would only make sense if young men where all great dancers. Since they are most certainly not:) its a load of nonsense I think.
Isn’t it the alpha male’s way of saying he doesn’t need to try?
Ha ha maybe that’s true but their dancing is a like magnet for anyone who happens to have any video recording equipment….. (You Tube or You’ve Been Framed anyone?
)
LC x
Doesn’t this assume group selection?
So when I stop dancing I will attract more women! Now this is useful knowledge
What utter nonsense !
Most middle aged & older men are perfectly fertile – remember Picasso ?
Older men who are bad dancers were probably always bad dancers, they just no longer feel the need to hide it because they have given up trying to attract a mate.
Not all young men are good dancers & how well you dance has relationship to how fertile you are.
If dancing is all about breeding potential, why are so many gay men (not usually looking for a breeding mate)
great at dancing ?
This is stupid. There are men who are bad dancers / men with undesirable reproductive materials at at age. Granted, the “yuck” factor increase exponentialy a man reach middle / dancing dad age but I’ve seen unattractive guys that were young. It’s not just the old geezers.