What is the rationale behind this?
Women wear lipstick because men are turned on by it. Men are turned on by women who want to turn on men.
There are some other theories about about youthful appearance, simulation of arousal, but none of those sound as credible as the simple explanation above.
A greater level of contrast between the skin of the face and the lips is viewed as more feminine than a lesser contrast. Lipstick increases the contrast between the skin and the lips.
More (with picture examples) here: Face perception: Gender matters | What visual arts reveal about the mind
Tradition to large degree I think. I understand it originated in Roman times, used by prostitutes to make their facial lips resemble labia, and to signal that they were prostitutes. It’s been female custom in our culture so long that it has become symbolic of womanhood, and therefore it excites sexual interest in men and serves as a symbol of femininity to women. Like high heeled shoes.
I find contrasts attractive. Many women with pale skin, black hair, and red lips are very attractive , IMHO.
I have also read about red lips being attractive due to resembling the labia.
The more aroused the woman, the more blood flows to the labia, and the redder it becomes.
This is “argument” going for the egg rather than the hen. I hope you can see your arguments are not satisfying. When you try to impede that “men likes X” therefore “women does X”. You forget to address how this started in the first place.
This circular reasoning doesnt explain anything. Besides you could “explain” anything this way
for example “why did Beatles become so big?” -Because People like Beatles music…ERGO: beatles played more Beatles music.
Moved GD –> GQ.
Welcome to the SDMB, scamartistry.
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twickster, moderator
It doesn’t explain how it started, no. It does however explain how such a custom can outlast its original purpose. It’s not so much circular reasoning as it is a feedback loop; once started it reinforces itself and can continue doing so indefinitely long after the original reason for the custom is gone.
Sorry, but you won’t find the answer to what started first. We don’t know who first used lipstick or why. Humans probably decorated themselves before the time of recorded history. I could have stated more simply that women or men use lipstick to attract men or women because it works.
So you have a better explanation for why the Beatles became so big? I presumed ‘big’ referred to the large amount of Beatles music people purchased and listened to because they liked it.
Thanks for the tip!
I might have some kind of talent coming up with questions (i hope). Less good at knowing where to post em.
Thanks for the input!
I mentioned that theory to a friend once and he said “then why don’t they wear mustaches?” 
So why do lesbians wear lipstick? Why do women who are not trying to attract a mate wear lipstick? Why do women like how they themselves look wearing lipstick?
I think my answer’s better, as it answers all these questions, as well. Lipstick emphasizes sexual dimorphism in facial contrast, making lipstick wearers appear more feminine.
I am pretty confident that men did not get turned on by women wearing lipstick before women started wearing lipstick.
Are female lips naturally more prominent, or redder, than male ones then? (If not, what dimorphism is being emphasized?)
Big in this case would probably, but not excluisvely be be based on recording. I dont think we need to debate wether Beatles were big or not.
As you state we might not know who used what first. Were I tend though to look (as I stated in my first stated in my original Q.) is for a reason. Im a firm believer that things are done for a reason. And more often than not in a shade i mystery. Most things, and especially things that catch on have some kind of explanation (if not validity).
A sober theory would maybe be that putting a strong color on your lips would give the illusion of a healthy individual. Red=Blood etc. this pattern we se again and again. In northern parts of the world: having a tan is regarded as a factor of desire.
However. to just say “humans did it a long time ago” doesnt cut it at all. Most (if not every) behaviour has some kind of rationale, however weird it might seem in the generations to come. Nothing happens in a vacuum. That is my firm belief.
Quite right. I was referring to the practise of wearing lipstick for the purpose of sexual attraction. That could have been an accident or intentional the first time. It’s also possible a man applied the lipstick to a woman the first time because it turned him on. Either way, nobody knows the answer to how it started.
As far as prominece, the practise may have started when most men had beards, so if that was the case, the facial hair dimorphism may have been it. There are a lot of stories about painted lips resembling genital arousal also. But I’ll stick to the basics, the practise took off because it worked.
Some things happen by accident. I doubt the first alcoholic beverages were made intentionally. Something sweet began to ferment, someone drank it, and noticed the effect. Even when there are reasons to start with, we don’t necessarily know them. And I’m sure the reason most people wear lipstick is because they think it works for them, without regard to other explanations.
There’s no strictly factual answer to this, merely entertaining speculation. One such avenue is that humans swapped estrus swellings for concealed ovulation, so other sexual signals were developed (enlarged breasts) or discovered (males preferring ruddy lips and cheeks as a sign of vitality, or longer hair, etc.).
One might wonder why the female would have to advertise at all. In most other animal species the female is drab and the male is colorful and has to jump through some serious hoops to garner female attention. With humans though raising a child takes an enormous amount of time and resources, usually with a lot of male investment. So we end up being semi-monogamous and males need to be a bit choosy when choosing a long term mate. Males would be as profligate as elephant seals if they could, but our big brains restrain that.
I was always taught that it had to do with making one’s lips more prominent, which tricks our mind into thinking they are bigger. And bigger lips are a sign of higher estrogen content, something men look for subconsciously when determining the attractiveness of a woman.
My source, unfortunately, is a TV program I watched a while back, so I can’t cite it.
Great, of course things happen by accident. The reason why alchol got popular is that alcohol has a nice effect on the brain. If alcohol made you depressed and blind I dont think it would have caught on. However alcohol has some “positive” effects, therefore the continuation of its use. Im trying to establish the should be obvious thing that behaviour etc…survives if there is a benefit to it.
To say that doing/wearing X is beneficial is totally missing the point. My question was WHY has this thing caught on? what are the reasons? why do people like this?
To answer: “People wear this because it works for them” is not an answer but almost embarrasing. Not to comment of the value of the answer.
In short : it doesnt answer anything.
Example: why did they abolish slavery: " Because the liked to"…its not really an answer.