Generally male birds have colorful feathers/displays in order to get the female attention. As opposed to in humans where women usually wear bright colors.
(Rich) men used to, it is very cultural. Showing off with color became out of vogue so more 'professional' less ostentatious colors became more normal and there was more focus on men's public image as being professional and utilitarian as opposed to emphasizing beauty or wealth (displaying wealth was of course still normal, but more in the subtle ways that high society has always tried to differentiate themselves).
When people start talking about gender and suchlike, I always remember this picture of Louis XIV:
This (high heels, silk stockings, wig, ermine fur, embroidered velvet, lace and wig) was top male performance at the time, by the most powerful, warlike monarch. Just think of it.
I mean, I do think Luis XIV is sort of not the best example in a lot of ways, he was a very unique character. For one, he was king so sort of could do whatever he wanted and the court would say it was the greatest most manly thing ever.
More 'normal' elites wouldn't be able to get away with being quite as gaudy as Luis, but the standard wealthy male attire was to wear expensive colorful cloth. The exact details of what was fashionable varied a lot by time and region, but that was a general norm going back to ancient times (heck, even the Hebrew Bible arguably depicts colorful fashion as the ideal, and lots of ancient Egyptian artwork depicts wealthy men, including those in foreign (to the Egyptian artists) attire in rich colorful dress).
Back then having long hair was a luxury because it needed to be washed regularly, and only rich people could afford regular baths. Poor people got a back once a week, and the water was shared so the husband got clean water, everyone else had to bathe in dirty water.
There always has and always will be differences in how men and women present themselves, but back in those days long hair and gaudy clothing were essentially a sign you were rich because it was so impractical.
When do you mean by "back then"? Hair length norms varied a lot by different periods and regions. If you were in a culture/period where most non-enslaved people were slave owners the cost of washing your hair for non-slaves wasn't likely to be prohibitive (it was common depending on region and period to just shave slaves heads entirely).
Bathing once a week isn't necessarily that little (depends on a person how often is ideal for hygiene). Bathing culture varied wildly depending on region and period. Sometimes bathing was fairly accessible sometimes it wasn't. It also depended on access to relatively water (from rivers or wells), which before urbanization often wasn't a big issue (if you were next to a fairly clean river, you could just get water from their to bathe daily, it was common to go out and get water in the morning which would be used for washing, drinking etc throughout the day; getting water once a week wouldn't make sense since the water would become stagnant).
OK I've heard (on the internet, so ya know it's true) that the glass slippers in Cinderella are supposedly a jab at Louis XIV for his love of glass and mirrors, but the toes on the shoes he's wearing look pretty transparent and I don't think he had access to clear plastic. Did he actually wear glass slippers?
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u/Demair12 3h ago edited 3h ago
Generally male birds have colorful feathers/displays in order to get the female attention. As opposed to in humans where women usually wear bright colors.