What Men Want
Study says long legs and big boobs -- are you surprised?
Here's a study that'll launch a cadre of 13-year-old boys into careers in evolutionary psychology: British researchers "discovered" that men are most attracted to petite women with long legs and big boobs.
The Daily Mail reports that in the study, both men and women found "symmetric" bodies more attractive than "asymmetric" ones. However, scientists say we don't notice body symmetry directly; instead we look for cues of symmetry, such as height and the length of the legs.
I call bullshit on studies like this -- and Daily Mail articles like this. What qualifies as "attractive" -- whether it's a big butt or peroxide-blonde hair -- is totally cultural, even regional. What's attractive in L.A. may not be attractive on an ice floe in northern Canada or a village in South Africa. All this study proves is what's allegedly attractive to a small sampling of Brits -- which conveniently for Hollywood, sounds exactly like women they put on TV and in movies.
Besides, attraction is totally subjective. What's "petite" or "a big bust"? Surely men are attracted to Scarlett Johansson's body, but since so few women actually look like Scarlett, men have little choice but to be attracted to lots of other women's bodies. So many factors go into attraction, like smell, level of inebriation, lighting, and even timing!
What a silly "study."
Discussion
Liz, I agree. Petite women with long legs...I'm not a PhD, but something doesn't add up for me there.
Liz/ Love Goddess,
I may be off-base but, I think 'long legs' are being referenced in terms of proportion. It seems like, irrespective of culture, some ratios and symmetry are more or less universally appealing. Right?
Curious how you combine a petite woman's body with the preference for long legs. Sounds like asked for preferences not on a total woman's body but went body part by body part. This means that there is probably very few women who actually have all of the most desirable body parts...if it is even physically possible to be both petite and have long legs.
Mate selection is driven by an idiosyncratic combination of biological, cultural, and individual factors. To wish it to be totally biological, totally cultural, or totally individual is to misunderstand how people work.
Recognizing broad cultural or biological tendencies for what they are does not suggest we are all doomed as individuals to follow them, only that the average person selects a mate who conforms to average expectations. Most people find it liberating to stop worrying about the masses and pursue their own interests with consenting partners. Those who delight in calling bullshit on the masses often enjoy a high level of neurotic frustration.
Which can sometimes feel better than sex. Sometimes.