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The mystery of female beauty

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Abstract

Yu and Shepard1 have reported a preference for heavy women with high waist-to-hip ratios (WHR) in a culturally isolated population in southeast Peru. Their findings are interesting because a preference for low WHR is widespread in westernized populations2,3,4,5. However, we disagree with their argument that cultural invariance is necessary for an adaptionist interpretation of WHR preference.

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Figure 1: Relations between female body shape and the number of sons and testosterone levels in their children.

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 3BX, UK

    J. T. Manning

  2. Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, 08901-1414, New Jersey, USA

    R. L. Trivers

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Texas, Austin, 78712, Texas, USA

    D. Singh

  4. Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, 87131-1091, New Mexico, USA

    R. Thornhill

Authors
  1. J. T. Manning
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  2. R. L. Trivers
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  3. D. Singh
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  4. R. Thornhill
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Manning, J., Trivers, R., Singh, D. et al. The mystery of female beauty. Nature 399, 214–215 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/20341

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