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” She came hardly up to my chest hair and had the kind of dimpled round little face French girls so often have, and I liked her long lashes and tight-fitting tailored dress sheathing in pearl-gray her young body which still retained – and that was the nymphetic echo, the chill of delight, the leap in my loins – a childish something [...] “

- Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita

Of course, this was all just a side-effect of the Sunday morning haziness, and of his blooming affections for me – I look nothing like I did when I was little, and thank goodness for that – but it had not been the first time I was told I had a baby-face (perhaps at certain angles, under a certain light?), and I wondered why this would be a compliment.

It’s common knowledge that men tend to ‘appreciate’ younger female specimens of our species. This is especially notable in today’s world, where tools like makeup, plastic surgery and photoshop feed into this youth culture – especially when it comes to female youth. But is there a genetic reason for all this? Or is this purely an irrational fad?

When it comes to faces, neoteny (or the retention of child-like features) can be quite pronounced in females, and contrary to all expectations, it has been shown to be more often utilized than the body in judging “attractiveness”. Biologically, testosterone stimulates the growth of the jaw, cheekbones, brow ridges, center of the face, and facial hair in males, whereas in females, growth of these traits is inhibited by estrogen. Therefore, human feminine features are often associated with a smaller chin and higher cheekbones, smaller lower face area, fuller lips, and larger eyes (picture a manga cartoon character). It seems that these features, combined with physical signs of sexual maturity, are found to be the most attractive by men… and there seems to be a reason for this: studies have shown that baby-faced women are perceived as having fewer health or fertility problems, and are more often selected for by males for self-sacrificial actions, sexual relations and child rearing (Furham and Reeves, 2006; Gyobe et al, 2004; Jones et al, 1995).

… Is my boyfriend attracted to me because my face betrays good baby-making qualities?  Are women really baby-faced for babies?

This obsession with youthfulness so prevalent in our society seems to be so exaggerated that you’d almost be skeptical if it didn’t serve some sort of purpose – evolutionary-wise. Studies show that indeed, it may. In a 1995 paper, Jones et al collected photos of 10 female models on covers of Cosmopolitan and Glamour, and took a series of facial measurements. The researchers found that models were exaggeratedly neotenous, having large relative eye width, small relative nose height, and large relative lip height. In fact, the predicted ages based on facial proportions were calculated to be between 6.8 – 7.4 years – ouch! The authors explain that this doesn’t mean that the facial proportions of models match those of real 7 year olds, but that the results strongly suggest that female model faces represent a “supernormal stimulus”.

However, in order for facial neoteny to actually enhance female fitness, it has to be an honest signal – i.e. it must advertise actual reproductive qualities, such as a good a immune system or healthy ovaries. Studies indicate this may be so. In order to have a baby-face, one needs a lot of estrogen; this hormone is essential in giving the female face its soft and feminine appearance, but high levels of it are implied in certain types of cancers and can be quite toxic for the organism. It appears, therefore, that a beautiful female face would imply an ability to deal with the devastating effects of the high estrogen required to make the estrogen-related beauty during development, as well as possessing adequate estrogen for ovulation and reproduction.

Because female’s fertility drops to nearly 0 as we get closer to 50 – although we live on average almost twice as long! – it’s no surprise that we would want to do everything possible to give out cues of youthfulness for as long as we can, as this maximizes our chances of finding a mate and making babies… And we can spend a lot of money doing so, even if vocally we express no desire of getting married or impregnated – I should know, I just (ir)rationally spent 12 pounds on lipgloss!

It seems that I am both unwillingly and purposefully advertising good ovaries. I’m not quite the Lolita but it looks like I may be baby-faced for a reason… so thank you for the compliment!