Centrefold models getting more androgynous
Emma Young
A comprehensive analysis of Playboy magazine centrefolds over the past 50 years shows the models have become more androgynous.
This finding challenges the idea that the type of female figure that men find most attractive remains the same over time, say Martin Voracek at the University of Vienna and Maryanne Fisher at York University in Canada.
The pair scrutinised 577 consecutive monthly issues of Playboy, from the first ever edition in December 1953 to December 2001. Data on height, weight and measurements for the bust, waist and hip accompanied the photographs. From these data they calculated body mass index, waist to hip ratio and a rating on an androgyny index.
Body mass index describes the relationship between weight and height. Like the simple waist to hip ratio, it is linked to fertility, risk of major diseases and longevity.
In the 1950s, the most attractive female body mass index was considered to be about 20, and the centrefolds reflected this. The optimum waist to hip ratio was believed to be slightly lower than 0.7.
But Voracek and Fisher found that over time, the bust and hip size of the models decreased, while waist size increased. Although weight remained fairly stable, height increased. "This means more recent models have a more skinny and tubular-shaped appearance," Voracek says.
Stick insects
The typical body mass index of a Playboy centrefold from the late 1990s is 18 - lower than it was in the 1950s. The average waist to hip ratio of these later models is slightly above 0.7 - with an upwards trend.
"These temporal trends are at odds with claims that centrefolds' body shapes are still more 'hourglass' than 'stick insects' and that the maximally sexually attractive female waist to hip ratio is stable," the pair conclude.
Why conceptions of attractiveness should have changed over time is a "challenging question", Voracek admits. "But it is obvious that there are no simple constants or formulas for what is perceived as the maximally sexually attractive female body shape," he told New Scientist.
Playboy centrefolds probably do represent what most men find most attractive, Voracek thinks. "Playboy is the most widely circulated sexually oriented magazine, with its past circulation rate exceeding that of Time magazine. If the centrefolds' bodily features did not reflect a maximum of female sexual attractiveness, it would not sell."
Any role of the media in these changes is unclear, he says. "Media may well lead these trends - but they may only document prevailing trends."
Playboy was unable to comment on the findings before New Scientist went to press.
Journal reference: British Medical Journal (vol 325, p 1447)
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