Shape and Significance of Feminine Beauty: An Evolutionary Perspective
Shape and Significance of Feminine Beauty: An Evolutionary Perspective
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DOI：
10.1007/s11199-011-9938-z
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发表时间：
2011-02
期刊：
影响因子：
3.8
通讯作者：
Devendrá Singh;D. Singh
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Devendrá Singh;D. Singh
进化论和女权主义对女性美的看法在某些方面是一致的，例如对女性美的重视对女性造成的压迫和破坏性后果。在（某些）美的标准的起源问题上，观点往往不同。进化论科学家提出，美丽是女性健康和生育能力的可靠线索。然而，由于调节健康和生殖能力的因素无法直接观察到，性选择已经形成了心理适应，以照顾与健康和生育力相关的身体特征。有人提出，人们会对这些身体特征产生共鸣，并发现它们具有吸引力。女性的一个这样的身体特征是女性体分布（即，脂肪分布集中在臀部和大腿周围的女性标准体型）。女性体脂肪分布是通过腰围和臀围的比值（WHR）来测量的。在本文中，我们总结了经验证据表明，腰臀比是一个独立的预测风险的主要疾病，最佳激素配置文件，和生殖能力。接下来，我们提出的研究结果表明，WHR的大小的系统性变化产生了系统性的变化，在世界各地的不同社会中的女性吸引力的判断。如此广泛的低腰臀比的吸引力表明，人们已经进化出了判断身体特征的心理机制，这些身体特征表明身体健康，具有吸引力，这意味着一些美丽的标准不是任意的或构建的。我们的结论是，更好地理解和欣赏的美丽与健康的联系可以赋予妇女权力。
Evolutionary and feminist perspectives on female beauty are compatible in some respects, such as the oppressive and destructive outcomes for women as a consequence of the importance attached to female beauty. The perspectives tend to differ on the issue of the origins of (some) beauty standards. Evolutionary scientists have proposed that beauty is a reliable cue for women’s health and fertility. However, as the factors regulating health and reproductive capabilities cannot be directly observed, sexual selection has fashioned psychological adaptations to attend to bodily features that are correlated with health and fertility. It is proposed that people resonate to such bodily features and find them attractive. One such bodily feature in women is gynoid body distribution (i.e., female-normative body shape in which fat distribution is concentrated around hips and thighs). Gynoid body fat distribution is measured by the ratio of waist and hips circumferences (WHR). In this paper we summarize empirical evidence showing that WHR is an independent predictor for risks for major diseases, optimal hormonal profile, and reproductive capabilities. Next, we present findings from studies that demonstrate systematic variations in the size of WHR produce systematic changes in judgment of female attractiveness within diverse societies throughout the world. Such widespread appeal of low WHR suggests that people have evolved mental mechanisms to judge body features indicative of good health as attractive, meaning that some standards of beauty are not arbitrary or constructed. We conclude that a better understanding and appreciation of the beauty-health linkage can be empowering to women.