Reflections:
- Why do humans have various skin colors, but the color of everyone’s private parts is darker than their own skin color?
- Why did this feature evolve?
- Why have there been many modern preferences for specific colors in private parts?
- How did these preferences for unique colors in private parts develop?
What Factors Are Related to Our Skin Color?
1. Reference: “Living Color: The Biological and Social Meaning of Skin Color”
Our skin color evolved as an adaptation to survival conditions.
Reference: “Living Color: The Biological and Social Meaning of Skin Color”
The change or distribution of human skin color is directly related to the intensity of ultraviolet radiation Earth receives.
UV radiation is stronger near the equator, leading to darker skin among people living in those regions. As latitude increases, populations have lighter (fairer) skin.
2. Friction causes the skin to darken.
- The color of private parts is influenced by hormone levels.
- Possibility 1: As ovaries mature and estrogen levels reach normal levels, melanin deposits occur in private parts, including labia and areolas.
- Possibility 2: During pregnancy or lactation, hormonal influences cause pigmentation. Infants, initially having blurry vision, can benefit from pigment deposits in the areolas, aiding breastfeeding by visual recognition.
In Summary:
- Skin color factors:
- Surface: UV, friction
- Private parts: Hormones
- Thigh root area (other reasons): Friction, hormones
Some people say that pigmentation in private parts is related to friction. In fact, this is a bit nonsense. Because, if you think about it, the roots of your thighs need to be rubbed so many times every day, and it is possible that the color will turn darker after so many years of friction. So the friction during sex is nothing compared to this, a drop in the bucket. So this is actually mixed with many people’s unfounded conjectures.
Why Do Color Deposits Appear in Private Parts?
Between 1.5 and 2 million years ago, humans lost their body hair and started walking upright, right? During this process at that time, our main goal as humans was to reproduce and survive. So in terms of human beings at that time, what was a very important one called? The key node is the period of sexual maturity. This period of sexual maturity means that it is possible to reproduce, which is such an important signal. So how did these signals appear at that time? Since humans began to walk upright, more sexual signals were presented from the front. For example, for women, the development of breasts includes no hair on other parts of our bodies, leaving only pubic hair. That pubic hair is actually a display of sexual maturity signals. It also includes the color of our private parts, which can also indirectly prove that we are becoming sexually mature individuals. Of course, there are other judgments besides this, such as smell, menstruation, etc. These are all signals or indicators used to judge whether a person has become a sexually mature individual.
Why did humans at that time care so much about being sexually mature? Is this an important signal?
Mainly because their mission at that time was to reproduce offspring, so they had to select men and women who could reproduce offspring, and then mate to reproduce offspring. This is a very important thing. At the same time, they have also screened out these mature experiences through continuous accumulation of experience in the past. Why do you say that? If an immature individual undergoes mating, he or she may be injured during the process, and may even lose his or her life. This is an accumulation of experience. What is another experience? That is to say, you have mated when you have just reached sexual maturity. At this time, our body may not be completely ready for conception, and it is possible that the pelvis is not ready for physical growth. If you get pregnant early at this time, various problems may occur during the pregnancy, and the child may not be saved, or the adult may not survive, so the genes may not be passed down. At the same time, a problem faced is that even if the baby is finally born, the female will not be able to take good care of the cubs because she was severely damaged in the process. This also results in the cub not being well taken care of, which may lead to genetic disruption and death. This situation will also exist. Therefore, it was a very important signal to find a complete sexually mature individual at that time, which was related to issues of reproduction and survival. Therefore, with the accumulation of such experience, people began to observe the color of private parts to judge whether the other person is a sexually mature individual.
Formation of Aesthetics
To explore how aesthetics formed, we may have to go back to 1.5 million to 2 million years ago. At that time, humans were hunting, and everyone was spread out on the prairie, not gathered together. At this time, it is very important to find a sexually mature individual for survival and reproduction. But when we enter this agricultural society and agricultural civilization later, when people gather together, a problem arises. That is, if a male waits until the female is fully sexually mature, he will face great selection pressure. . A female will face many males, and she will select the strongest one, or the part of the gene that can best protect the survival of her cubs, and then pass it on. This is a choice. When some males face stronger choices, on the one hand they worry that they may not be able to compete, and on the other hand they may also fear that their genes will not be passed on. At this time, they began to target younger or more recently mature women.
At this time, when the newly sexually mature female has not gained a lot of experience, or when the male does not have many competitors, he should strike first and gain the upper hand, thus ensuring that his genes can be passed on. In this case, males will pay more attention to and observe the changes in the color of the female’s private parts, and they will be more inclined to seize the opportunity when the color just changes. On the one hand, this avoids a lot of competition, and at the same time, it ensures the inheritance of genes. To a certain extent, this may also be due to his lack of confidence in his own competitiveness. At the same time, it also represents his fear or fear of the mature female. Because a mature female will have many choices, she may just not be able to choose him. Faced with such a situation, he did make such a decision.
So up to this point, in fact, it still serves the goals of reproduction, survival, etc. However, in the later industrialized society, these changes occurred, and people began to develop certain aesthetic preferences for skin color.
Why is this? It is because in an industrialized society, not everyone needs to work in the fields, and not everyone has to work. At this time, a group of people have appeared. They have mastered the information of the middle class, or they have become a middle class, or Talk about nobles and so on. At this time, in order to show their status, they began to say that in order to show that they did not have to work in the fields or be exposed to wind and sun, they began to flaunt their skin color as very white, using whiteness as a symbol of beauty. That’s why the saying “one white skin covers all ugliness” has become popular in the past many years, which is why the pursuit of fair skin has emerged. In fact, the reason behind this pursuit is to prove to everyone that I don’t have to work in the fields, I have time and money to whiten myself.
But in recent years, there has been a phenomenon of embracing a tan complexion, so what does this aesthetic of “tanning” actually mean? It also implies that these individuals have the wealth, time, and opportunity to go to the beach regularly for sun exposure. They may argue that the sun exposure from activities like surfing, traveling, or simply being at the beach is more stylish than the sun exposure from working on this land. One type of tan is what we call “tanning” , and it can be further divided into a stylish tan and a rustic tan.
In such situations, we find that any changes in aesthetic preferences are essentially a way for a minority to showcase their identity and status, emphasizing that they don’t need to work, have the time and money to control the means of production, and have sufficient resources at their disposal – all symbolic of their social status. At the same time, a series of aesthetic preferences, such as desiring a pink and firm intimate area, have emerged. These abnormal aesthetic standards come with their own set of problems.
For instance, when someone defines something as beautiful, they simultaneously define what is considered ugly. Some individuals may not explicitly say it, but they might express that a pink intimate area is clean, as opposed to considering it dirty if it’s not pink. Although they may not use the terms beautiful or ugly, they silently pass judgment in their minds. This brings to mind an example encountered online, where an individual strives to embrace the “tanning” trend while simultaneously desiring a pink intimate area. When such contradictions exist within a person, it compels us to ponder why this is happening.
There are people online who express that they feel more confident and empowered after achieving a pink intimate area. Is this acceptable? Can’t I prefer this color? This situation does indeed exist objectively, and we can understand it because everyone may go through such a process. To summarize this process, initially, we may conform to or satisfy certain aesthetic standards to affirm ourselves or gain a sense of empowerment, believing that we are beautiful. This is a natural stage that everyone goes through.
However, when we subsequently pursue constantly evolving beauty standards, we realize that the control over these standards is not in our hands but in the hands of a few individuals. They swiftly change aesthetic norms, establish new standards, etc., all aimed at showcasing their authority, special status, and differences from the masses. Behind this lies the struggle for authority in defining beauty.
We find ourselves constantly pursuing these standards. Just when we think we’ve met one standard, the next one may no longer align. This leads to anxiety and inner conflict. Those who continually vie for aesthetic authority also experience pain because they must consistently find more nuanced positions or strange standards to define themselves as unique or exclusive.
This poses a significant issue known as aesthetic expansion. In many areas where aesthetics didn’t originally exist, they are forcefully introduced to highlight uniqueness. For instance, our external genitalia is a signal of sexual maturity. Why establish aesthetic standards for it? Furthermore, these aesthetic standards might initially apply to only a few individuals, but once someone defines these cases as beautiful, it becomes a standard for everyone.
As aesthetic expansion continues, another problem arises – aesthetic distortion. When natural standards no longer serve the pursuit of aesthetic authority, some individuals define as beautiful certain situations that violate health principles and physiological structures. This leads to aesthetic distortions, such as the pursuit of an A4 waist, square shoulders, and engaging in unhealthy practices like nerve blocking and muscle cutting for slim calves.
It’s easy to imagine that in the future, we might question whether blood vessels need to be decorated or if some specific features should be carved into the liver, and so on. All these issues could potentially emerge. Therefore, at this point, it is essential to remind everyone to be vigilant about aesthetic expansion and aesthetic distortions around us, as they are interconnected. What we need to do is stand firm amid these trends and not be swayed by them.
We must firmly believe that as long as our bodies are healthy, fully functional, and don’t impede our normal quality of life, then they are fine. We shouldn’t let unnecessary aesthetic standards measure our bodies. Ultimately, we should prioritize serving our health and the quality of our lives. So, moving forward, you will also notice that the author is striving for a kind of authority – one that asserts that many parts of our bodies don’t inherently possess standards of beauty or ugliness. We shouldn’t use beauty standards to evaluate our bodily organs, development, and so on. In essence, as long as they are healthy, fully functional, and contribute to our pursuit of a better life experience, that’s sufficient.