A survey of male college students finds they prefer women of average weight and build.The 18-to-26-year-old men who participated in a study at Scotland's St. Andrews University came to that conclusion by looking only at pictures of faces. When looking at an array of head shots, the gents consistently singled out those that paired with either underweight or overweight body types as being both less attractive and less healthy than those that topped normal frames .
There has long been a correlation between the perceived health of a face and its attractiveness, but this is the first study to tie a gaunt or plump visage to a negative impression of overall build.
Will this finding finally encourage the fashion industry to move away from heroin chic and toward plus-size models? Don't bet your dinner of grapefruit and cigarettes on it.
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Monday 09 November
By Takahashi
I can see why. I personally am not all that attractive to girls who are as skinny as the models. When bones start to show, it's really a turn off... Average sized for me!
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Monday 09 November
By maxod
Sorry, 100% not true. Very misleading title and methodology. Gimme (insert any random "anorexic" celeb/model), you can keep your Mariah Carey's and Kirstie Alley's. Just what we needed, more faux pseudo-science for undisciplined, jealous fatasses to justify their part in the obesity epidemic.
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Monday 09 November
By Takahashi
They did state that is was "underweight or overweight body types as being both less attractive," effectively demonstrating the fallacy of your argument. Sorry bud, but I don't believe average points to celebrity like Kristie Ally who obviously is overweight. Think of someone like Jennifer Love Hewitt who is considered to have an average build.
They, of course worded the headline like anyone would to grab attention, and I cannot find the exact percentages or the averages from the study other then it was from a group of 84 males (I admit, not very large). So in some cases you'd be right about it being misleading, sorry everything isn't written without wanting to draw in attention.
As for the whole "plus-sized models" I don't think they where jumping right to ladies who are tipping the scales. What are the requirements of a plus-sized model you may ask, "the minimum acceptable height is generally no shorter than 5'9"/175.3 cm" is the answer from http://www.hughesmodels12plus.co.uk/Apply.html. Yeah, it may change from agency to agency, but the point is clear. Being 5'9" and having a larger bust with a bra size of c, and a larger butt does not spell out fat. To me that seems pretty average.
Tuesday 10 November
By Big T
Must be Jam cuz jelly don't shake like that! I like my ladies a little on the thick side, but I ain't kicking no skinnys out of bed either.
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Tuesday 10 November
By glennc
another pointless study that we already knew the results
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Wednesday 11 November
By Caleg
What are they considering average? Are they talking about the average size one would calculate if you checked the size of all women in the country, or are they talking about the more commonly used notion of average, which is the size considered by most to be optimal for health? If it's the former, I must say that it's complete bullshit. They used too small a sample size, with too much room for coincidence and preferential differences. If it's the latter, the whole thing is a ridiculous exercise in begging the question.
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Wednesday 25 November
By DarkLayers
Maybe, but several studies that have asked guys to rate natural unaltered photographs of women's bodies, rated the bodies with low-normal weight optimally attractive.
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Friday 27 November
By ejambe
Obviously the modeling industry will never change because an average woman "is more attractive to guys". Why? The modeling industry isn't trying to attract guys!
Designers want to show off the clothes, and regardless of how good an average-size girl looks in certain types of clothing, more types of clothing look good on skinny girls, especially the architectural pieces a lot of designers show. Also, if advertisements are trying to attract anything, it's women - and skinny girls (as long as they aren't too ridiculous) represent many women's ideals and fantasies, as sad as that may be. Men are not in the equation.
Besides, this study doesn't show anything besides that guys like average-sized faces rather than skinny ones. It tells us nothing about their opinion of body types.
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Wednesday 02 December
By Kenny
I couldn't have said it better! ejambe hit the nail on the head.