Via IJC, I found this story (scroll down) in my own paper that I had previously missed:
What makes women attractive to men?
Who doesn’t have a theory on this one? Psychologist David Buss offered one in “The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating)” (Basic Books, 1995). He argues that men all over the world are most attracted to women who show signs of robust fertility. This includes health, youth, beauty, clear skin, luxuriant hair and, most importantly of all, an hourglass figure with the proper waist-to-hip ratio (WHR).
More precisely, men like women with a WHR (waist size divided by hip size) of 0.7. Evolutionary psychologists argue that this ratio, which means the waist is 30% smaller than the hips, reflects a combination of elements indicating maximum fertility. A ratio of above this (an overweight woman, say 0.85 WHR) puts the female at risk of a number of physiological disorders and lessens her chance of conceiving. A ratio below this (an underweight woman, say 0.45 WHR) puts her at risk of being unable to conceive, carry a baby through pregnancy or keep the baby alive afterwards.
In 2002, Martin Tovee and colleagues in biological psychology at Newcastle University in the U.K. modified Buss’ theory. In a paper published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, the Tovee team argues that WHR is indeed a key to women’s attractiveness to men. But they claim it is not just the shape of the waist and hips, but also her overall body mass index (BMI) that really turns men on.
They write, “BMI is even more critical, accounting for 75% of body attractiveness.” Thus, the size and proportion of a woman’s breasts, legs, and so forth are important, too. The right BMI maximizes men’s perceptions of a woman’s fertility. The perfect “10” is in fact the perfect BMI.
The IJC profers his own ratio that I won’t repeat here…
I’m curious just what made you want to share this? You may as well share the formula that women use to measure a man’s sexiness – called brains to brawn or B-2-B for short. ‘Brains’ is how many stupid things that a man says in proportion to ‘Brawn’ – or how buff he is.
Hey Derek,
Thanks for your comments and suggestions for our carnival! They were very helpful.
Mica
I guess I’m old school, I’m still using the Shoe Size to Penis Size method.
Undoubtedly IJC must be walking around in a child’s size 6.
What a tool.
Susan – good one!
I dunno, I just thought it was interesting … not out to offend anyone.
Good thing I wear a Size 12, I guess…
Interesting theories. However considering different things attract different people I don’t buy into it. I am very much a plus size woman at the moment and was at one time much smaller. At either size I have never had any trouble attracting men of all types size and age.
I believe while a certain look, size or shape may get someones attention, it may not keep it for that long if that’s all she (or he for that matter) has going for her (or him).
your all fags