I’ve never been convinced that figures such as this and the Willmendorf Venus represent idealized feminine beauty or godesses. A beer fueled discussion long ago resulted in a consensus that they were all mother-in-law representations, embodying all of the negative attributes of an elder woman controlling the social life of younger couples.
One observation ended the discussion. It was noted that almost all of these mother goddess figures fit comfortably to hand and suitable as projectiles to ward off human and animal predators and supernatural terrors because of the sheer ugliness.
What enemy would attack a second time if they thought your best women looked like those figures?
I think we’re looking at the art of a culture where the art wasn’t all that great. :’) Or, maybe they just liked ‘em with a little more junk in the trunk. Or, and this is my favorite theory about most prehistoric cultural remains, the statues were produced by teen boys.