The hourglass figure is truly timeless
Written texts of all ages have the same drift when it comes to the midriff – they consistently describe women’s thin waists as attractive
The conclusion comes from an analysis of British, Indian and Chinese texts dating as far back as the first century AD.
According to the researchers, the finding supports the idea that we are hardwired to prefer slender waists, which are linked to good health and fertility.
It is no secret that modern culture places a premium on Barbie-doll shaped bodies. Some scientists have argued, however, that this preference only represents modern Western values.
To gain perspective on the issue, psychologist Devendra Singh at the University of Texas at Austin, US, and colleagues mined the Literature Online (LION) database, which contains over 345,000 British and American works of fiction, prose and drama from 1500 to 1799.
Singh says he decided to analyse written texts instead of paintings, because clothing can sometimes obscure the waist size of characters depicted in the latter art form. He adds that written texts can give a clearer idea of how the subject should be perceived:
“In poetry you say it outright, Here is a beautiful woman and look at her waist.”
Clear, bright and neat
The database search yielded 2873 references to the waist in British texts, of which 87 were determined by two independent reviewers as having a romantic tone. The search similarly produced 219 romantic references to women’s breasts, 57 to thighs and 15 to buttocks.
All of the romantic references to the waist described it as slender. For example, in the early 1600s British poet John Harington described a beautiful woman as follows:
“Her skin, and teeth, must be cleare, bright, and neat / large brests, large hips, large space betweene the browes, / A narrow mouth, small waste ”
But romantic descriptions of other body parts were less consistent about size. Many of the British writers eulogised small breasts, for example.
Singh then asked experts on Indian and Chinese literature to nominate ancient erotic poetry describing beautiful women. They suggested two Indian epics, Mahabharata and Ramayana, from the first to third century AD, and Chinese sixth dynastic Palace poetry from the fourth to sixth century AD.
Once again all of the romantic references to the waist – 56 in all – described the body part as attractively narrow . There is “not a single exception”, notes Singh.
Abdominal fat
He believes the ancient praise for slender midriffs is significant because it was only in the 1950s that scientists began understanding that comparing a person’s waist and hip measurements can serve as a key health indicator.
For example, even individuals with relatively trim arms and thighs are at higher risk of heart disease if they have lots of abdominal fat.
Abdominal obesity has also been linked to an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer and diabetes. Previous research has also hinted that women with low “waist-to-hip ratios” are more fertile (see Barbie-doll shaped women more fertile).
Singh believes that the consistent praise for women’s slender waists means that humans are hardwired to view the trait as beautiful. “This consensus could not be based on an arbitrary thing,” he says of the texts his team analysed.
Instead our brains evolved a preference for this trait, because of its link to good health, the psychologist suggests.
He acknowledges that some artists, such as Peter Paul Rubens, have celebrated voluptuous women with thick waists.
But Singh says such celebrations of thick waists are very much the exception, not the rule.
See more here newscientist.com
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Howdy
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Wow, women are beautiful all over the planet regardless of their figure! Look how the shade of a woman’s skin is also part of the attraction
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, beauty is only skin deep, never judge a book by it’s cover.
While the figure is classed as so important, in the big picture it tells nothing of value. It’s no secret that when two strangers meet, they do not show themselves as to their true nature, so that voluptuous woman, or athletic hunk may turn out to be a washout with no real reason to be with at all.
In some parts, a long neck is the definition, while in others crushed and rolled feet were. There’s the case for a big bum. It isn’t beauty, it’s a race for acceptance. Natural is beatifull!
“Singh believes that the consistent praise for women’s slender waists means that humans are hardwired to view the trait as beautiful.
Instead our brains evolved a preference for this trait, because of its link to good health, the psychologist suggests.”
Give over, Humans are not without their own mind and preference, indeed, this body shape preference is simply because it’s idealist based, with no basis in reality.
If a slim waist is good, then isn’t the ‘curvy’ woman more desirable?
Look at early paintings of Adam and Eve, or indeed any similar image, and you’ll see women were very curvy indeed, and Eve was the ideal.
As a collective ideal, beauty is a construct, nothing more. The article is as superficial as the subject it attempts to explain.
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VOWG
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Rubenesque. More to hold.
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sisyphus
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as you age, your metoblism slows down. small waists are a visual indicator to youth and fertility.
im sure none of the texts described the breasts, no matter the size, as saggy. i don’t need a scientific study to understand that.
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sisyphus
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as you age, your metoblism slows down. small waists are a visual indicator to youth and fertility.
im sure none of the texts described the breasts, no matter the size, as saggy. i don’t need a scientific study to understand that.
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Lloyd
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The Bushmen of the Kahlihari in the 1960s responded that they liked extra junk in the trunk as it meant the woman had reserves for lean times. Some Middle Eastern and African peoples find extra weight attractive, as it shows that their families had decent supplies of food, wealth, etc. Skinny frames during TB epidemics were signs of sickness in the 19th Century. They also forgot the Bustle Craze. This article is slanted.
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