Chickens Clearly Watch Too Much Television: Prefer What Feminists Deem Arbitrary Western Standards Of Beauty
There's a persistent denial by feminists of biology -- of the notion, supported by piles of cross-cultural research, that we have evolved (innate) standards for what we find beautiful, along with other evolved sex differences.
I just love animal research -- like Sonya Kahlenberg and Richard Wrangham's, for example -- that shows that girl chimps out there in the jungle engage in "doll play" with sticks, holding them like babies, while boy chimps do not (99 percent of the time).
Of course, we know from feminists that that these girl chimps only behave this way because they see too many Barbie and baby doll ads on Saturday morning television.
Well, in light of some 2002 research I just saw posted on a science blog, it seems the parents of chickens need to cut down on their chicks' Saturday morning TV-watching as well.
Seriously Science posts at DiscoverMagazine about research exploring whether there might be an innate preference for certain types of features on human faces.
However, instead of asking humans what we find beautiful, they went to a bunch of chickens for a little change of pace:
To do so, they trained chickens to react to either an average human male or female face. They then showed the chickens a series of faces of different levels of attractiveness (see Figure 1 below) and measured how much the chickens pecked at each face (a measure of their preference for the face).Surprisingly, they found that the chickens preferred the same faces as did human volunteers (in this case university students asked to rate the faces for attractiveness), suggesting that something about these faces makes them inherently more attractive to our nervous systems.
So there you have it: the next time you want to know which photo to use for your profile picture, consider asking a chicken.
Screen shot from the research:
via @SteveStuWill
Interesting. My chickens "prefer" whoever has the food.
From my personal experience as an owner of many dozens of chickens over several years, I do not believe that they "they trained chickens to react to either an average human male or female face."
ahw at January 7, 2016 7:43 AM
Slighty off topic...can you train a chicken to use a litterbox?
Amy Alkon at January 7, 2016 7:54 AM
I wondered about that as well Ahw. Since the training is an inherent part of the study it should be detailed.
Ben at January 7, 2016 7:57 AM
Yep, ahw, chickens peck at what they think might be food; nothing more.
charles at January 7, 2016 8:32 AM
so if you are a regular Joe, you better watch out for MUTANT ZOMBIE CHICKENS!11!!!1
"They'll peck your face OFF, man..."
SwissArmyD at January 7, 2016 10:10 AM
Amy:
No, but you can train them to wear a diaper:
http://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Diaper-Medium-9-10-Ships/dp/B00AFWLA70
Sixclaws at January 7, 2016 10:27 AM
MUTANT ZOMBIE CHICKENS!11!!!1
Slow zombie chickens or fast?
And if fast, can they be turned into fast food?
I R A Darth Aggie at January 7, 2016 10:48 AM
Nah, you can't potty-train chickens. They poop everywhere- which is why poultry feeders are typically very narrow- so the chickens don't poop in their food/water.
Like charles says, they peck at whatever might be food. They'll peck at your rings, at your painted toenails, at your shoe buckles. They're not the smartest animals in the world.
If the reported study had been on parrots, I'd be far more likely to believe it.
ahw at January 7, 2016 11:46 AM
Chickens pick at bare feet also, which my daughter learned the hard way when she stopped by to give me a hand. Babies eat and poop. Chickens scratch, pick, eat and poop. And, at least one poop a day is a clean out the system poop. You all wanted to know that, right?
Dave B at January 7, 2016 12:18 PM
OK...so basically to determine beauty this study says to show a picture and see if the pecker responds?
The Former Banker at January 7, 2016 1:13 PM
The former banker has to have won some kind of award.
Bob in texas at January 7, 2016 1:59 PM
I believe +1000 internets is customary Bob. Would you care to deliver the award? I certainly approve the expenditure.
Ben at January 7, 2016 3:58 PM
Thanks Banker...coffee just came spewing out my nose. And I agree with Bob and Ben...that comment was a winner winner...chicken dinner!
sara at January 8, 2016 9:48 AM
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