[OnyxCougar]

Originally posted by Unknown_Poltroon
" In former times and even nowadays in different cultures corpulent women are seen as higly reproductive and are therefore favoured. Does anybody know when this "skinny women" trend set in?"

Actually, something neat i saw on the discovery channel, the standards of beauty dont change that much from culture to culture. MEn tend to find a woman with a certan ratio of hip measurement to waist measurement, i think its .7 or 1.7. ANd its remarkably consistent overall, from culture to culture.

Actually, the standard of beauty IS different from culture to culture, but also from time period to time period. For example, in 1400's Europe, most art depicts women with "full" hips and bulging abdomens (see picture). Back in those days, most people ate very little as a rule, nigh on starving, and the body style was the "waif" look of today. The attractive women were the ones who ate well, and therefore had a "thicker" appearance. This is well documented throughout history.

In addition, on the cultural side of things, going back to the "nose plug" post, I would say that "attractive" is a hugely relative term. You probably won't see a 18 year old male in LA saying, hey, look at those neck rings!! But it's probably pretty common for 18 year old equivalent in that culture to admire that.

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pitcure from www.stanford.edu website.
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