After an interesting conversation about how male attention can feel very different to older women, even if they maintain sexiness. The point was made that the change in male attention quantity and quality when you get older can feel like night and day to a woman who was attractive when young. And even if you maintain attractiveness, the attention you get in your late 30s and early 40s seems more like raw lust, without being wrapped up in romance, sweetness and tenderness.

I had the idea that it is the combination of neoteny and purely sexually attractive features that produce that romantic, want to save you, live and die for you, feeling in men. I pictured a 40 year old woman who was objectively hotter than a 22 year old woman that was still quite pretty. I realized that indeed, my feelings were different. Even if I had more lust for the 40 year old, I had more of the tender, romantic feelings for the 22 year old.

I also thought about the different feelings elicited by attractive young women with harsher, less cute and neotenous appearances vs. young women with more neotenous appearances. And the impact of neoteny mentioned above still seemed to track.

So thoughts on the importance of neoteny in male feelings towards a woman.