It seems like so many women are constantly looking for affective diets or workout plans to make them lose weight. Being ‘inspired’ by skinny models that seem to disappear if they stand sideways staring at them from magazine covers and the pop culture of the last decades that some women believe screams out the ‘rule’, “The less my weight is, the more popular and attractive I am”. But what type of figure really does drive men crazy? 
Finally a reliable poll has been conducted that has come closest to answering this question. Online Dating Network, Yangutu.com asked about 16,000 men aged between 23 to 60 from the USA, Canada, Australia and Europe the question, “What female physique do you find irresistible?” The most interesting fact is that the results are almost equal in all the tested countries…
The overwhelming majority of men confessed they prefer women with curvy hour-glass shaped figures (about 78%), another 17% of men are attracted to women with “normal” (or average) size and skinny girls seem to attract only about 5% of the survey participants.
While most men reading this will probably wonder why a poll really needs to be conducted to prove this point as the results may seem blindingly obvious but many women reading this may be a bit more surprised…
Healthy means beauty…
The scientific approach is that a curvier look is a healthier look; and a healthier look is a more beautiful look. 70% of the tested participants said they preferred curvy women, as they looked healthier – And 25% used the same explanation for “average” girls.
But why are curves attractive?
According to the scientists, the reason is simple, women with wider hips clearly indicate that they have good health and are able to carry healthy babies. Large breasts show that the woman will be able to breastfeed. That’s why such body type has always been considered as a symbol of fertility. Thus, to be curvy means to be healthy.
This rule deeply imbedded into man’s subconscious thousands of years ago and still hasn’t lost its relevance. The image of an hourglass shaped woman effects man’s brain like a drug, invariably causing positive emotions.
It’s also scientifically proved that the lower woman’s waist-hip ratio or WHR, the more attractive she is for the opposite sex. Let’s take a look at celebrities past and present who are known worldwide as sex symbols.
Marylyn Monroe, Jane Mansfield and Sophia Loren as well as Salma Hayek have waist-hip ratio close to 0.6. Their unprecedented success and popularity has become one more proof of this “curvy theory”.
So where does the problem come from?
If the overwhelming majority of men are nuts about female curves, why do millions of women all over the world torture themselves with numerous diets and extreme measures?
Yangutu.com asked about 19,000 women with the age range from 20 to 45 years if they would like to become thinner and got really shocking results. 77% of ladies who answered the poll question would like to lose weight! 12% of the female participants don’t want to lose weight but would like to redistribute their body fat to look more attractive. 6% of women would like to gain some weight and there are only 5% of those who are totally satisfied with their weight and physique… that’s just 950 out of 19,000!
Modern mass culture with its thin androgyny models seems to have a great negative impact on the women body image. But if we look back on the divas from the 50s they didn’t seem exhausted with their slightly fuller physique.
Later in the 60s an average model was two inches shorter and weighed about a stone (or 14 pounds) more than our modern cover girls. But soon everything changed with the sensational appearance of Twiggy with her 6st 7lbs.
In the 80s such models like Cindy Crawford returned healthy look and curves back to fashion, but the 90s revived the popularity of Twiggy-like models and gave birth to the notion of “heroin chick”. The majority of models of the 90s and early 2000s were characterised by their unhealthy looks of a heroin addict and had a very low BMI (body mass index). Lots of fashion designers assert that only skinny models are effective in clothes demonstration.
However, fashion plus size models are becoming more and more popular these days taking part in lots of fashion shows and magazine photo sessions. Their natural beauty and hour glass shaped figures clearly demonstrate that today there is no more place for androgyny women. Feminine look and sexy curves seem to become a new fashion trend that will hopefully have its impact on younger generations.
So now after setting the record straight, we can dare to believe that the theory of skinny women popularity is nothing more than just a myth formed by the modern fashion industry. The truth is men prefer those ladies who are taking care of their physical condition and visiting the gym not to become skinny but to just maintain a healthy balance of muscle and fat.
Do men really prefer curvy women? Let us know what you think below…
Written by Featureworld reporter Jon Smith-Squire
