The mystery of female beauty

M. J. Tovée () and P. L. Cornelissen
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M. J. Tovée: Ridley Building, Newcastle University
P. L. Cornelissen: Ridley Building, Newcastle University

Nature, 1999, vol. 399, issue 6733, 215-216

Abstract: Abstract Evolutionary psychology suggests that a woman's sexual attractiveness might be based on cues of reproductive potential. It has been proposed that a major determinant of physical attractiveness is the ratio between her waist and hip measurements (the waist-to-hip ratio, or WHR): for example, a woman with a curvaceous body and a WHR of 0.7 is considered to be optimally attractive1,2,3, presumably because this WHR is the result of a fat distribution that maximizes reproductive potential4. It follows that the preference for a curvaceous body shape in women should be universal among men and not be culturally based, because natural selection presumably favours cues indicative of the most fertile body shape.

Date: 1999
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DOI: 10.1038/20345

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