Why do men wear ties & a woman wears dresses?
Why do male birds flash its feathers and dance in circles while mammals flex its muscles to attract a female while the human male sits back while the female fluffs her hair and wear colorful makeup.
Why did humans reverse this role?
Especially the tie thing, why do men wear ties?
The tie thing came from the French, as ex-pat so ably explained. At least you don't have to wear a lace ascot and cuffs, like Washington, Jefferson, etc. did.
Roman generals used to wear make-up into battle. The Egyptians probably did, too. Some Native Americans carefully did their hair before going into battle, and this was a necessity since a lot of tribes identified their members by hairstyle and you didn't want to kill one a relative of friend in the heat of battle.
I saw a great show several years ago about some group in Africa that had an annual festival, during which the eligible bachelors would dress in their version of Sunday-best and dance before the eligible ladies in hopes of capturing one's attention. I was watching it with a friend and we both agreed that this custom met with our enthusiastic approval. At least you could tell who had a sense of rhythm.
Now for the $64,000 question:
Why do men where pants and women wear skirts? You gentlemen have extra "equipment" up front that must be accommodated on one side or another, which women don't have. When I was in college, I dated an American graduate student whose parents had moved to France and he visited them several times a year. He told me that a good European tailor would figure out what side one's "equipment" gravitated toward and give a little extra room. But why bother? The Scots and the Greeks certainly look good. Whether they "go commando" or not, I have no idea.
So many Western men have managed their way into dullness and don't seem to be people comfortable with their bodies. I look at some of these guys involved in these sex scandals and wonder what anyone sees in them. Yet I look at the girls and women on TV, and they are sleeveless, or in bikinis or gowns with their breasts hanging out. But the males are dressed to the teeth.
It's inevitable!
