探祕男人長鬍須的真正原因(上)

What is the point of a beard,evolutionarily speaking? Children, women, and a whole bunch of men manage justfine without one. But take a walk down some streets these days and you’ll beconfronted with all sizes and shapes of groomed (and less groomed) facial hair –fromdesigner stubble to waxed moustaches and hipster beards.

從進化的角度講，鬍鬚的意義到底是什麼？兒童、女性、還有相當多的男人沒有鬍鬚，也照樣過的很好。但現在這年頭，如果你去街上逛逛，你會看到各種各樣的修整過的（或者不修邊幅）的鬍鬚——從精心修理的胡茬，到上了蠟的小鬍子，再到各種時髦的花樣，可謂應有盡有。

When we see men paying attention to theirappearance, it’s easy to assume that they’re just angling forpartners. But our research on beards and voices shows that beards probablyevolved at least partly to help men boost their standing among other men.

當我們看到男人非常注重自己的外表時，很容易推斷出，他們這樣做只是想吸引伴侶。但通過我們對鬍鬚和聲音的研究表明，鬍鬚的進化極有可能是來幫助男人提升他們在同類中的地位，至少在一定程度上如此。

Compared to males and females of many otherprimates, men and women on average look very different from each other – partlythanks to men’s facial hair. And when we see differences between males andfemales, the explanation often boils down to evolution through sexual selection–the process that favours traits that boost mating opportunities.

平均而言，與許多其他靈長類物種的雄性和雌性相比，男性和女性在外貌上有着很大區別，而這至少在一定程度上和男人濃密的面部毛髮有關。並且，在我們研究男女之間存在的這種差異時，很多人往往將其歸咎於進化過程中的性選擇，即人們會更加偏愛能夠增加交配機率的個人特徵。

But interestingly, women don’t seem thatinterested in beards. While some studies have found that women like a bit oreven a lot of facial hair on men, other studies have reported that they preferthe clean-shaven look. The lack of consistent evidence means we can’t concludethat beards evolved because women were attracted to them.

但有趣的是，女性似乎對鬍鬚似乎並不是那麼的感興趣。雖然有一些研究發現，女人喜歡男性留一點、甚至是一大把鬍子，但其他的一些研究卻認爲，女性更偏愛鬍子刮的乾乾淨淨的男士。由於這些結果缺乏一致性，意味着我們不能得出這樣的結論：鬍子是因爲女人喜歡才進化出來的。

Researchers have therefore suggested that asecond type of sexual selection may hold the answer. To reproduce, it’s oftennot enough to simply be attractive. You also have to compete with the same sexfor mating opportunities. The funny, shy guy at the back of the bar isn’t going tostand a chance when competing with his bolshier brothers otherwise. And there’s evidencethat beards evolved to help men do just that.

因此，研究人員提出了另一種性選擇傾向，或許能解釋這一現象。想要繁殖後代，僅僅具有吸引力是不夠的，在求偶時，你還得與同性競爭。與其他膽大的兄弟們比起來，那些躲在後面的、古怪的、害羞的傢伙們是沒有機會的。有證據顯示，鬍鬚的進化正是幫助男性進行競爭。

In times with a greater proportion ofsingle men competing for fewer women, beards and moustaches became morefashionable

在男性比例遠高於女性比例時，求偶時有鬍鬚的男性就顯得更爲時尚。

A man’s ability to grow a fulsome beardisn’t actually neatly linked to his testosterone levels. Despite this, a numberof studies have suggested that both men and women perceive men with beards asolder, stronger and more aggressive than others. And dominant men can get moremating opportunities by intimidating rivals to stand aside.

一位男性能否長出茂密的鬍子，其實和他體內睾酮水平的高低並沒有絕對的關係。儘管如此，許多研究表明，男人和女人都一致將鬍子視作成熟、強壯、和具有攻擊性的象徵。那麼佔這種支配優勢的人就能脅迫競爭對手靠邊站，從而爲自己贏得更多的交配機會。