In 1887 George John Romanes, an acquaintance of Darwin and a leading advocate of the theory of evolution, published a treatise entitled Mental Differences Between Men and Women. Within it, he used “science” to explain the reasons why women were so hopelessly intellectually and physically inferior to men. An example of his arguments include, “Seeing that the average brain-weight of women is about five ounces less than that of men, on mere anatomical grounds we should be prepared to expect a marked inferiority of intellectual power in the former.”  He goes on to state, “Moreover, as the general physique of women is less robust than that of men - and therefore less able to sustain the fatigue of serious or prolonged brain action - we should also on physiological grounds be prepared to entertain a similar anticipation.”

Ahem, Fuck you Mr. George John Romanes.May you lie in miserable unrest beneath the ashes of the bras burned by my foremothers.

But the theory of evolution has often been misconstrued and misinterpreted to defend sexist and racist points of view. People of African descent were once compared to monkeys to justify slavery and discrimination. Measures taken of their skulls, noses and cheekbones were used to "prove"  that they were “less evolved” than their pale counterparts. As Wikipedia will tell us, Hitler’s Nazi regime was also justified by quasi-scientific reports, which were used to assert the superiority of the "Aryan race", and were “based on a specific racist doctrine which claimed scientific legitimacy.”

But it is 2011 and science has progressed, has it not?

Not according to Cosmo.

Cosmo published a short but extremely Disturbing article about “men with manly facial features” on page 132 of their December issue. Within it they claim that men with a “strong jaw”, “large forehead”, or “thin lips”, are “more likely to two-time their partner.”

Their claim: “These traits are signals that he has lots of testosterone, which Scientists say may amp up his Desire to have sex with other women.”

Which scientists, exactly, would that be? The group of Harvard graduates you have working down at Cosmo, I presume? 

The truth is, desire does not Equate action, and thin lips do not equate a cheater. But making assumptions about a person based on their physical appearance does equate discrimination and ignorance. And even though a small article like this may seem harmless upon first glance, the fact is that any small door opened to judgment based on physicality leaves room for bigger and more disturbing ones in the future.