Slim waist - immutable beauty standard

Women's beauty has always been honored through the ages. However, what constitutes the attraction of a girl is not fixed but depends on many factors, such as fashion, culture and the eyes of the eye.

For example, in the reign of Queen Victoria in England, a lovely pair of lips is the pinnacle of beauty. Today, that tiny pair of lips has been replaced by a tight mouth that Western women always seek to make their lips " swollen " as much as possible.

In many societies, sexual stimulation points have spread to both ankles, necks and knees; How to make hair, makeup also changes in fashion.

Women's desirable form also changes, originating in part from women's social progress. In the 50s of the last century, Marilyn Monroe was a model of sexy beauty, but today she will be advised to go to exercise to lose weight.

So it seems that the standard of beauty does not exist - there is no eternal standard or just a move.

But evolutionary physiologists are not.

Marilyn Monroe is famous for her bee-shaped waist.(Photo: Dailymail)

For them, fashion is just a thin shell for a deeper, uncompromising and unchanging force, also old and durable like our genes. It is a Darwinian fundamental motive for people to survive and be healthy.

In a test of these opposing hypotheses, scientists at the University of Texas at Austin and Harvard University, USA, rummaged through three centuries of English literature and classical Asian literary works. almost 2 thousand years ago. The goal is to find out which parts of the woman's body are praised by the authors over the years.

The breasts, buttocks and thighs - the main sexual areas - are presumed to dominate these works. But in the end, a slender waist beat everything.

In English literature, vivid depictions of a slender waist ("as a stick", "bewitched by her lovely waist" .) appear 65 times. Meanwhile, portrayals of romantic breasts appear 16 times, thighs are slim 12 times and only 2 pieces talk about hips and buttocks.

However, those works are still filled with praise for the beautiful beauty that speaks very little about the slenderness. The remarkable thing here is that even the plump or slender woman, the small waist is always the focus. There has not been a detail depicting the beauty with any respect that refers to the bulging belly.

In Asian works, slim waist is even more revered. The small waist was reminded up to 35 times in 2 Indian schools. In Chinese poetry, the waist is honored 17 times, while the chest, buttocks, hips and thighs are not mentioned at all, and only a single description of the romantic legs of a woman.

The study came to the conclusion that the slim waist is a symbol of passion that transcends time and space.

Why is that?

The answer according to the authors is that the small waist is a sign of good health and high fertility. Men still instinctively evaluate a woman's waist as a sign of her ability to give birth to healthy children.

Modern research also indicates an association between obesity and an increase in morbidity, estrogen depletion, and fertility decline.

"Regardless of the constant transformation in the concept of beauty, the sign of good health and the successful fertility - the slim waist - has always been a constant symbol of feminine beauty", the The researcher concludes.

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