Quote:
Originally Posted by Vexx
Say what? In general, considered by whom? Where do you get these notions? Those lists are extremely debatable and subjective. Got some linkage to research or studies?
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While the lists were entirely arbitrary, they do contain a handful of traits that researchers have found men to be consistently attracted to, like symmetrical features and clear skin. There is also an observed tendency for men to be attracted to young-looking women.
Generally, these preferences have understandable motivations, from an evolutionary viewpoint. Women with symmetrical features and clear skin are more likely to be healthy and capable of surviving child birth. That's apparently the same evolutionary instinct that spurs men towards young-looking women.
And, apparently, studies have also found that the only universal ideal in the physical beauty of women is their waist-to-hip ratio, which makes evolutionary sense as a woman needs to have wide-enough hips to bear children safely.
Unfortunately, pin-pointing the "ideal ratio" is an entirely different matter and, historically, we've gone from the exaggerated hourglass figure of Victorian women to today's thin-as-a-rake supermodels. This
essay I found suggests that "healthy, reproductively-capable women have a waist-to-hip ratio of between 0.67 to 0.80. A ratio of 0.70 was found to be the average ideal, across time and culture, regardless of the woman's overall body size and weight".
While the essay contains no references to published papers, I don't find it entirely far-fetched.