Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or so the saying goes. But anthropologist Barnaby Dixson thinks otherwise, according to studentbeans.com.
Having studied what the sexes found attractive over different cultures and time periods, Dixson found that the same formula for what men favoured in women, came up almost every single time: a waist that measures 70 per cent of the hip circumference.
If a woman possesses this waist-to-hip ratio, then Dixson has said that other factors are not considered by men.
'It is likely that perfect 0.7 ratio sends a biological signal to men that that woman is most fertile and most likely to produce a healthy offspring, no matter what size that woman is,' said Dixson.
The research also suggests that women preferred leaner men with less muscle 'as they equate those physical traits with being more caring and gentle and therefore a better prospect as a partner.'
And who are the lucky ones with these perfect measurements? The Times of India cites Jessica Alba, Marilyn Monroe and Kate Moss, among others.
Given the number of studies we post up on this blog, I think I'll treat this one with the usual health warning. Which is that there's probably another study on its way which shows this isn't true.
Thanks to Emine Dilek for this story.
