New Trends: The Hour Glass Shape Is The New Waif

According to a new study conducted by a Female-American — Elizabeth Cashdan of the University of Utah — the long-believed rule of the waist-to-hip attractiveness ratio is bunk. Previous “scientific” findings claimed men are more likely to be attracted to a body with 36-25-36 inch body proportions, otherwise known as bodies with an hour-glass shape. Despite the popularity of media darlings like Jessica Alba and Kate Moss, science (or random studies published in the media) has consistently (or conveniently) told us (yes, us) that the hour-glass shape symbolizes fertility and is amazingly awesome.

Pleads the Newsweek blog:

“Can we please stop telling young women that if they don’t meet the hourglass ideal there is something wrong with them, that they are doomed to infertility and will never form a relationship?”

Considering we know plenty of women with hour-glass shapes, and maybe even have one ourselves, we find it interesting that the media spends so much time covering celebrity anorexia and telling us that we’re being told (by other media) that waif-thin is the beauty ideal in America. And now we’re being told that an hour-glass shape, which generally denotes a weight over 120lbs, is just as likely to give us an eating disorder in order to attain it? We, personally, only observe drooling over hour-glass shapes when it comes to Latina actresses (ok, and Scarlett Johansson) and it’s usually used to let the public know that they can weigh more than a fetus and still kind of be considered attractive– you know, in an ethnic, earthy kind of way.

Although we don’t advise stereotyping all Latinas as having hour-glass shapes (obviously), to stereotype the hour-glass shape as something that will lead to obsessions over curves seems ridiculous.

According to Elizabeth Cashdan, preference for waist-to-hip ratios depends on your country of origin. If your country tends to have women who are economically independent of men (Britain and Denmark), then men prefer slightly larger waists. If your country tends to have women who are economically dependent on men (Japan, Greece, and Portugal), then men prefer a thinner waist. No mention of what America prefers. But, to that extent, what do you prefer? Jessica Alba or Jennifer Lopez?

Hourglass Figures: We Take It All Back [Newsweek]