Comments on: Research NOT to conduct with daddy

By: Mos

Mos — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 00:46:57 +0000

I think it's all conditional. Depending on what is touted as the "ideal physique" by one's culture and the media, people will go for that.

There is some tribe in Africa where the young girls are stuffed sick with food to obesity because that is considered attractive to their tribesmen. These girls don't have small waists or the ratio being discussed here.

I've noticed that with tests and statistics, they come mostly from North America, Canada and Western Europe, and the results are considered to be the "norm" for the entire planet.

By: Mulevi

Mulevi — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 07:08:14 +0000

 * Yay! There is hope for guju women like myself who have heard their mothers and grand 
 * mothers lament about 'child bearing' hips.

Don't worry, they are doing research on purifying Nairobi Samosas (no doubt, the best samosas in the world!) so the next generation will have no reasons to lament, and can continue to enjoy their samosas.

By: Emma

Emma — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 02:22:30 +0000

Wasp-y waist! No wonder my lil sis always got the guys!!! Now she’s gonna marry a WASP guy.

By: Ritam

Ritam — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 20:34:01 +0000

I think Sir Mix-a-Lot almost independently arrived at the same conclusion.

By: Msichana

Msichana — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 20:33:41 +0000

Yay! There is hope for guju women like myself who have heard their mothers and grand mothers lament about ‘child bearing’ hips.

By: kusala

kusala — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 20:26:21 +0000

I have serious problems with “Evolutionary Psychologists” or “Physical Anthropologists” or whatever you want to call them. I mean, I admit that humans are part of the animal kingdom, but these scientists/scholars are always looking for precise formulas about why certain physical characteristics are “adaptive” (i.e., conducive to continuation of ‘the species’)…. but it’s been used for everything from breast size to baldness.

We used to joke that one of the professors at my school (quite renowned in physical anthro) was in the field and did work on why younger women were attracted to older men was “adaptive” because it justified him having affairs with his 20-something grad students. Eww. We also joked that his “studies” were showing men stick figure drawings of women with big boobs vs. regular stick figures and asking men which drawing was more “appealing”? That was an exaggeration, but not by much.

By: Fuerza Dulce

Fuerza Dulce — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 20:19:53 +0000

Finally – scientific appreciation for my badunkee.

By: Maitri

Maitri — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 19:09:11 +0000

Oh, the W-H ratio: This explains why at least three men find me attractive.

By: Classical Liberal Warrior Against Terror

Classical Liberal Warrior Against Terror — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 18:52:56 +0000

I wouldnâ€™t want to be looking through stacks of Playboy magazines with her,

Not if she's a lesbian then it will be Ok and will count as quality family time.

By: razib

razib — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 18:51:32 +0000

I've always personally believed that symmetry has something to do with attraction

beauty is multi-dimensional. i don't say that to be PC, symmetry is one angle, population 'averageness' is another (related to symmetry), but exaggeration of secondary sexual characteristics is another (e.g., H:W ratio). there isn't a silver bullet.