The ability to be attractive is a tool that humans have used for as long as they have walked upright and sought to gain power, control, and influence.

In social groups, when one is attractive, things can come much easier than for one deemed otherwise.  Largely subjective, the ways people exhibit attractiveness are as different as we are all.  There are, however, some broad styles of allure that can be identified, such as seductiveness, which is an aspect of attractiveness that is usually practiced differently among the sexes. 

Men are fairly simple: powerful build, financial independence, nice car, sexual prowess, powerful position — even a good sense of humor can make a man attractive to the opposite sex.  But women have a much more diverse array of seductive styles.  Since time won't allow for them to all be listed I would like to talk about three of the more lowbrow available.

These are found in vocal styles.  The first is the baby doll or dumb-sounding vocal style.  It can grow old fast, but it seems to have worked well for Marilyn Monroe and Jennifer Tilley.  It is meant, I believe, to give the insecure male a sense of power or dominance.

The second seductive vocal style is the sleazy or "loose woman" vocal style, where one exhibits a dreamy, sleepy-sounding, or whimsical manner of speaking.  Think Mae West and the "come up and see me some time" vibe.  Not sure what it's meant to project, but maybe it's supposed to imply that someone just got out of bed and is ready to get right back in, wink, wink, nudge, nudge. 

The third of our bottom-of-the-barrel female seductive vocal styles is the "I'm slightly inebriated" slurred speech approach, meant to assure the listener that the speaker is impaired just enough to make some poor judgments. 

Some women can blend these styles into something new.  When I hear Senator Kamala Harris speak, I am emotionally turned off, and I couldn't figure out why.  Is it some bias of mine?  I searched my soul until I remembered these thoughts on seductive vocal styles, and I realized what it is I was hearing and what it is she's attempting. 

Vice President Harris is so desperate to attract and influence that she has melded all of these crass styles into one Hail Mary attempt to seduce.  And that is my turn-off.  What adult can be attracted to or influenced by a sleazy, drunk baby?  I mean...that's just wrong.  But as voting has shown, sleazy, drunk babies aren't such a turn-off to Democrats!

Image: Mobilus In Mobili via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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