Photo: Levi Guzman on Unsplash
Turns out there's a scientific reason men remember (or forget) the smallest details about you.
By Rebecca Jane Stokes — Last updated on Mar 19, 2023
I have to admit something you may find kind of odd. I think women who have an hourglass body shape are ridiculously attractive.
I know. I know. It feels like an anti-feminist declaration given all of the negative things corsets have done to women's bodies over the course of history. But look, I'm human, and like what I like.
And as research shows, it turns out that I'm not alone in my adoration of this specific female body type.
Intrigued by previous research which showed that people are better at remembering attractive faces than unattractive faces, a team of researchers out of the University of South Carolina, Beaufort, the University of Michigan and Kansas State University conducted a study of their own "to examine whether female waist-to-hip ratio influences the number of details men recall and recognize about a woman."
Their findings prove it's good for a woman to be curvy, provided those curves are the right type.
Yup, there's a "right" type of curvy body shape — and a wrong one. (Because god forbid we women just go about our lives confidently existing.)
The researchers discovered that if a woman has a waist-to-hip ratio of 0.60, 0.70, or 0.80, men are more likely to remember details about her than if her ratio is 0.50 or 0.90.
You know, small details — like her eye color, her name, and what she does for a living.
The reason for this is that there's something about an hourglass figure that triggers a man's brain to see you as a biologically beneficial potential mate.
Basically, if you've got a body shaped like a flawless hourglass with an ideal waist-to-hip ratio of 0.70, a man is literally programmed to remember you in the hopes that you'll one day bear his sure-to-be-super-healthy babies.
"These data illustrate adaptive memory," the social scientists explain, "whereby perceivers better remember information of greater adaptive value to them, because this information may lead them to make better fitness-related decisions about whom to potentially mate with."
It's no small wonder that corseting has never really gone out of style.
If I knew all it would take for a man to retain facts about me was to put on another layer of Spanx, I would've started doing just that years ago. But please don't be thrown or dispirited by learning this magic number exists.
Kate Moss has a waist-to-hip ratio of 0.70.
But so does Kelly Brook.
And so did Marilyn Monroe.
Your waist-to-hip ratio has nothing to do with your specific weight. You can be a 0.70 at any size, which is important to remember, I think.
If you want to find out if your body makes the cut (although I strongly suggest not putting yourself through that), I'm here to help you out.
Here's how to measure your waist-to-hip ratio:
- While standing up with your stomach relaxed, find the narrowest part of your waist and measure it in inches using a tape measure.
- Next, measure around the widest part of your hips, also in inches.
- Divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement.
Bam! The resulting number is your waist-to-hip ratio.
Another physical trait men can't seem to forget is a 45 degree curve at the lower back. (Which is how scientists say "a body that just won't quit.")
Of course, these findings address only one facet in the extremely large puzzle of attraction that determines what connects men and women. Other factors like you know, shared interests are also deeply critical.
So don't rush out and start waist training right now. Whatever your waist-to-hip ratio may be, you're already perfect.
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Rebecca Jane Stokes is an editor and writer living in Brooklyn, New York. She writes about pop culture, relationships, psychology and news.