Stockings were originally designed for men! Why are they so tempting? Here comes the serious science popularization

Expert of this article: Zhao Wei, Doctor of Medicine, Associate Chief Physician, Tianjin University Teda Hospital

Stockings, as a fashionable item to match clothes, are loved by many women.
For those who are too lazy to remove the hair on their legs, wearing stockings can modify their legs and instantly improve the visual effect. In addition, there are stockings of different colors: black, skin color, white, and stockings with different functions: warm stockings, sun protection stockings, varicose vein elastic stockings...

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Many people think that stockings are exclusive to women, but did you know that stockings were originally designed for men? Why did they later become synonymous with sexiness and temptation? Let's reveal the secret. Were stockings originally designed for men?

The origin of stockings can be traced back to the 15th and 16th centuries, when men of the aristocratic class liked to wear tights.

Tights can highlight the muscles of men and are also convenient for outdoor sports such as horse riding and shooting. They are mostly made of wool, silk or cotton. At that time, tights made of silk were regarded as a symbol of nobility.

In the 16th century, for the convenience of wearing and taking off, this kind of tights gradually evolved into half pants and stockings. When Queen Elizabeth I of England received a pair of knitted stockings at the age of 27, she became a "stocking control" and became the first famous woman in history to wear stockings. Napoleon, a famous politician and military strategist in French history, also liked this kind of clothing very much. Stockings gradually became popular in the royal family and the upper class, and became a symbol of success, power and pride.

In the relatively conservative 18th and 19th centuries, women often wore socks or tights hidden under their clothes.

At the beginning of the 20th century, with the development of society, women's skirts gradually became shorter, and stockings became popular. Starting in the 1950s, the emergence of nylon made stockings popular.

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In addition to keeping the feet warm and dry, stockings can also reduce the friction of shoes. Now, stockings of various colors, styles and functions appear on the market.

Why do stockings make people feel sexy? Psychological analysis

Women wearing stockings will create a hazy and mysterious feeling, which makes people curious and fantasize. In addition, under the rendering of film and television dramas, people habitually associate black stockings with sexiness.

Most people don't find stockings sexy when they're not on. So in a sense, "stockings control" is an extension of leg fetishism and foot fetishism.

"Stocking control" is generally dominated by men, who collect photos and videos related to stockings. Non-invasive stocking fetishes do not require "treatment", but when this hobby deviates significantly from the normal, it will form "fetishism" (formerly known as fetishism), and psychological treatment can be carried out when necessary, but patients with a long course of illness or lack of motivation for treatment have poor treatment effects.

Genetic analysis

Humans’ perception of sexiness comes from genes. When visually stimulated, dopamine, a chemical substance related to the body’s “pleasure system,” is produced, which may affect the brain’s response to sexual arousal stimuli and trigger physiological reactions. The gene for the dopamine D4 receptor controls the brain’s response to dopamine to a certain extent.

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From an evolutionary perspective, humans, like animals, prefer to mate with the opposite sex with good looks and good figures so that their genes can be passed on. In the animal world, when courting, people will choose the opposite sex with good figures. Poor figures are often associated with low survival rates and fewer offspring. Scientists have discovered that multiple genes are related to sexual arousal, with the goal of gaining more opportunities for individuals to pass on their genes.

Physiological analysis

Men are visual animals. Visual image information related to the female body often evokes physiological reactions in men, while for women this is mostly related to smells, sounds, romantic scenes, emotional exchanges, etc.

Is it a visual deviation that stockings beautify legs?

Stockings can well cover up leg defects, such as rough skin, body hair, scars, etc. In addition, they can make the skin look smoother, modify the legs, and give people a better sensory experience.

In some cases, people will have visual bias. For example, for objects of the same weight, light colors often look lighter than dark colors. Stockings have a visual sense of extension, making the legs look longer. The color and decoration of stockings can also produce various illusions. For example, black has a visual sense of contraction. In some cases, black stockings look thinner. If you add a pair of high heels, it can make the curves even longer.

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