I first heard it on some newsmagazine a few years back, but I just starting thinking about it today. I broke out the big stack o’ porn [sup]TM[/sup] and a calculator and sure enough, all but 3 models out of the ones I glanced at were in the .6-.8 range (an interesting one actually had a ratio of 1.1 even though I found her very attractive). I then did some googling and found the above link.
So what do you guys think. Coincidence? Just the way the female body is made? Has any study came out to poke holes in the theory?
Yeah, I’d believe it. Of course, I’d look at the face before any other part of the body, because to me, that’s the most important part (especially eyes). The thing is that, IMHO, when you look at different periods in time, you’ll see different visions of beauty. Art is a prime example of this. Visions of beauty in times of famine, are usually a little bigger, but not to the point of being fat. Also, in the past, untanned skin was thought to be attractive. I myself am rather fond of paler women, just because I know in 20 years, they won’t be as wrinkled. But in the past, these were indicators that a person never had to leave their house to survive, and was well-fed.
Of course, everything in moderation. When you can count someone’s ribs, you know someone ain’t eatin momma’s home cookin.
FWIW, prime attractiveness for men’s waist proportion is .85.
Ladies?
This came out in Newsweek (IIRC) many years ago. One of these days, I’m going to find the story again and photocopy it.
The .7 waist to hip ratio is fairly constant across cultures. It holds true for both Twiggy and the pre-historic fertility goddesses. Nor is it a coincidence - this works out to be the proportions with the highest rate of fertility as well.
Broader theory – someone has quantified the entire concept of beauty, including all facial proportions. It discusses eye spacing; proportion of lips to face; shaping of L/R sides. I’ve never been able to find a concise reference to the theory, despite having tried several times on Google.
I saw this on the Discovery Channel a while back, so, being an engineer, I had to check. My wife came home, I measured her and said, (MISTAKE 1), " I love you anyway." I then went on to explain the .7 Ratio. So she decided she wanted to check how lose to perfection she was. First, she did the division of the two measurements. She made a mistake (CLARIFICATION: My wife is a very intelligent woman) so I said, “No Hon, you have the decimal in the wrong place.” She then tried to calculate what her waist needed to be, so she multiplied her hip measurement by .7 and again made a math error. I , (MISTAKE 2) jumped in again and said, “Hon, you forgot to carry the two.”
She then got frustrated and said, “JEEZ!!! Where’s my head!!!” I then couldn’t resist (MISTAKE 3, 4, 5, 6) and said, “Up your ass, that’s why your hips are too big”
