how is it that men can think things are cute?

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I thought that oxytocin only occurred within women. Isn't oxytocin the hormone that allows mammals to perceive their children as cute and not want to eat them? Sure, some mammalian creatures eat their young like hamsters but it's invariably the males who eat their young. It's my understanding that males lack oxytocin.

I'm confused as to why males don't eat their young more often or go throwing kittens into wood chippers.

Give someone a bag full of cockroaches and someone would toss them into the wood chipper with nary a second thought but something cute and helpless, they're not so likely to kill them in mass quantities.

I hope someone knows what I mean.

But humans also live in family groups and the males have to have some affection for the women so they don't kill them or let them die before they can have babies. So maybe that affection also gets directed towards the kids, even if it's not the same kind of chemical or process as what causes women to love their kids.

I would give that I thought...lol

I am also perplexed as to the concept of "Cuteness" I can understand it's presence between say, I man and his child. But why do I think a kitten is cute?!? It's really just a small animal that makes a high pitched noise and does funny stuff... why does cross species "cuteness" exist? What purpose does it serve? I don't mind cute things being dead... I just cant imagine killing one!
But that's better than many people I know, a rabbit had once exploded (I kid you not, the guts were stretching out for 15 feet!) and various other people were nearly in tears (hahaha) and I didn't really give a damn! Yet if I was holding a kitten (as they are indisputably the cutest animal on the planet) I would have no desire to hurt it, unless it severely wronged me...
But now I'v had a thought... maby the concept of "Cuteness" has been either a. Bred in to animals, as most wild variates of domesticated animals aren't at all cute! or B. It has developed in them as a survival trait amongst humans.

Males have oxytocin as well. There are some differences in amount and receptor density. It's the same with males having some estrogen, just less. There are differences but it's not a complete lack.

Considering the time and energy involved to raise a kid at least until puberty, it would make sense to have something that would cause the dad not to want to kill their own children. As for other mammals like hamsters, well they have much larger brood sizes and grow to maturity much more quickly, so they can easily afford to be a tasty snack every once in a while!

exactly. I'm pretty sure most normal males have more oxitocin than I, for one, have :p

cute things, from what i read, have some common characteristics, like big head comparing to the rest of the body. there were a few more, but I forgot.

anyway, I don't think that theory is correct though. I find small animals incredibly cute, but human babies i find creepy, especially caucasian babies (I think it's the bald head that creeps me out so much).

I wonder if other animals find their young cute too. I think they might, but it's funny to think they do.

^ I agree with anna on the perception of baby cuteness.

As others have mentioned, males also have oxytocin.

Additionally, this is untrue as well:

I have heard of young being consumed by the mother as well although perhaps rarer and due to bad conditions or mental disorders? But still.

I also find it interesting to ponder that no one really explains to anyone what a feeling feels like. Indeed there may be no way to discribe it. Therefore what one person feels and labels it as "thinking its cute" could be totally different than the emotion another person feels when something is percieved as "cute" and there's no way to tell. This relates to the OP in that the way males 'feel' cuteness may be completely different than females. Who knows?

QFT; it is not absent, just in lower amounts and serves a different function in males.


M.

Easily thats how. Next question.