Gentleman Prefer Real Curves

The closest match to the ideal was an average-sized 25- to 44-year-old, with a waist of about 76 centimetres (30 inches) and hips of about 102 centimetres (40 inches).

PLAYBOY centrefolds, fashion models and professional escorts may have a reputation for being sexy but Sydney men prefer the body shape of average Australian women, scientists have found.

A University of NSW researcher, Robert Brooks, said he had been surprised to find that the "supposedly super-attractive" professionals had a less popular figure than the girl next door, but their slimness appeared to have counted against them.

"These women had smaller waists and hips than the most attractive combination in our study," he said.

The research was carried out to test the notion that a waist-to-hip ratio of about 0.7 has evolved to be appealing because it is a sign of good health and likely ability to have children.

Professor Brooks and his team asked 100 men to judge the attractiveness of 201 line drawings of female torsos. The most preferred waist-to-hip ratio was close to 0.7, but only if the rest of the body proportions were average, they found. The least attractive torso shapes were large shoulders with small waist and hips, and small shoulders with large waist and hips.

The vital statistics of the different professional groups and normal Australian women were then compared with these shape preferences.

Furthest from the men's ideal were the Playboy centrefolds, 1990s models and women advertising on two Australian escort websites. Models from the 1920s, who were more curvy, fared better. The thicker waists and hips of women over 44 put them outside the most preferred range.

Ironically, the decrease in hip size and weight of models during the past 40 years has been a trend away from the body type that appeals to men, the researchers noted in the study, published in the journal Behavioural Ecology.

Article Found At: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/gentlemen-prefer-real-curves-20090612-c646.html