Average Is The New Hot
Researchers discover what men really want. The answer may surprise you.
Think you know what type of figure men find most desirable? The answer, according to Australian researchers at the University of South Wales, may surprise you. According to a recent study in the journal Behavioral Ecology, men go for average female figures over mega-shapely centerfolds, escorts and models, reports New Scientist.
When 100 male students were asked to rate the attractiveness of 200 line drawings of females with differing hip, shoulder and waist measurements, the men rated the group of "regular" women ages 22-40 as the most attractive.
The average waist and hip sizes for eight different types of female figures (including centerfolds, models, escorts and "regular women") had been plotted on the drawings. The preference of the male participants was for women who had average values of all three traits (hip, waist and shoulder). This suggests that it is the integration of these three physical traits that equates to a female's foxiness, report researchers.Attraction At First Eye Contact?
A previous finding in the study of human behavioral ecology had been that women with the waist-hip ratio (WHR) of about 0.7 were the most attractive—no matter how the rest of the body varied—because this ratio suggested the highest fecundity and reproductive value to the male eye. This new study shows, however, that this theory only holds water if the rest of the woman's body was average, meaning she had hips, waist and shoulders all of average (as in real-woman) size.
Readers, do women get in their own way when it comes to healthy body-image and feeling good about the way they look?
Discussion
But what is average? I know it sounds odd, but when I was 20, the average size of everybody was smaller, whether they were young or old. Older people were bigger and some people were fat. Going a little further back, look at a picture of Mama Cass from the Mamas and the Papas. She was very self-conscious about her weight. There was even a song that referred to her as fat. She is just not that big compared to many young people nowadays.
Are they really looking at photos of modern average-sized women? Women who are the average size for their age? I find it easy to believe that men are more attracted to Mae West and Marilyn Monroe than supermodels, but what does average-sized mean now?
