Do I Have Big Lips I

Why do some ethnic groups have bigger lips than other ethnic groups? What determines lip size?

You mean black people? Go ahead. You can say it. Why do black people have bigger lips?Lee Thé here did a good job explaining why humans have defined lips. If you haven’t read their answer you should check it out. Lips are expressive and sensual, two traits important for social animals.Yet some people on average have bigger lips than others. Why’s that?I’m black. My forebears evolved in the tropics, where they had the full fury of the sun to contend with and ferocious mammals to compete with. And compete we did.Our skin grew darker to better protect ourselves from exposure to UV rays. A natural sunblock, if you will.Our hair grew less dense yet tightly coiled, for better ventilation from heat and yet proper shielding of our skulls from the sun. A helmet, of sorts.Our limbs grew longer, to better counter overheating by offering a larger surface area for evaporation. The superfluous body mass too, fat, was reduced. That this made us stronger, better suited for life in the Savannah, was a bonus.For the same reason did our lips grow fuller. To help in body heat dispensation.And there you have it.

Are big lips attractive on guys?

Opinion answer, not meant to offend anyone.It really depends on whether it suits the rest of the guy’s face. It can indeed look attractive, as long as it looks masculine and not feminine.For example, here’s men with big lips that look very attractive:In general, black or colored men can pull off fat lips way better than asian or white men (because on asian/white men it starts looking too feminine).Now for men where thin lips would have suited their face much better:

Is there an evolutionary advantage to big lips?

Yes, but be forewarned. Once you know you can never un-know it.I’ll beat around the bush for a bit to give you time to decide whether you want to walk through this door.First, we’re the only primate with full lips.Second, we’re the only mammal anatomically designed to mate face to face. ← we have evolved towards bipedalism, hence allowing us to mate face to face by repositioning the genitals. We can do it every which way, but we’re optimized for face-to-face mating.With other primates, mating is done front to back in nearly all circumstances. I think bonobos do it our way sometimes, and maybe chimps. But it’s not usual for them I believe.In front to back mating, what signals tell prospective mates that a female is ready (remember, most other female mammals are only sexually receptive at certain times—maybe only once a year)? There are pheremones and certain behaviors that signal sexual receptiveness. But with primates especially, the female’s vulva becomes engorged—fuller—and the buttocks swell, and may even get more colorful. It’s like a big bullseye.This doesn’t work for humans because the long dependency of human children and their need for high quality protein to finish growing our big brains requires the active assistance of both parents. With many mammals the female raises the babies by herself, but they don’t have kids like ours.Since the normal primate swollen vulvar bullseye/buttocks are on the wrong side for humans, we need substitutes that tie into those atavistic attractants. Hence humans’ full lips and breasts. No other primate has breasts. They just have teats, which are for milk for babies. They aren’t dual-purpose organs. Just as other primates’ lips are for eating mostly. And for retracting to show the teeth for various kinds of communication.So our full lips are engorged vulva analogs, and they’re permanently full, because mature human females are always in heat—again, very unusual, but appropriate for creating and sustaining the intense pair bonds our species needs.The redder color of lips comapred to normal skin has the same function, which is enhanced even further with red lipstick.Feel free to ponder this the next time you’re osculating.