Female & Fat?

?But STRONG! – Having an imperfect body may come with some substantial benefits.The hormones that make women physically stronger, more competitive and better able to deal with stress also tend to redistribute fat from the hips to the waist, so in societies and situations where women are under pressure to procure resources, they may be less likely to have the classic hourglass figure.

Anthropologist Elizabeth Cashdan aims to explain a peculiar observation: women around the world tend to have larger waist-to-hip ratios?more cylindrical rather than hourglass-shaped bodies?than is considered optimal.

Medical studies have shown that a curvy waist-to-hip ratio of 0.7 or lower is associated with higher fertility and lower rates of chronic disease. Studies have also shown that men prefer a ratio of 0.7 or lower when looking for a mate. The preference makes perfect sense, according to evolutionary psychologists, because the low ratio is a reliable signal of a healthy, fertile woman.

But in data that Cashdan compiled from 33 non-Western populations and four European populations, the average waist-to-hip ratio for women is above 0.8. If 0.7 is the magic number both in terms of health and male mate choice, why are most women significantly higher? That’s where the hormones come in.

Androgens, a class of hormones that includes testosterone, increase waist-to-hip ratios in women by increasing the kind of fat which is carried around the waist. But increased androgen levels are also associated with increased strength, stamina, and competitiveness. Cortisol, a hormone that helps the body deal with stressful situations, also increases fat carried around the waist.

Cashdan says, “The androgenic effects?stamina, initiative, risk-proneness, assertiveness, dominance?should be particularly useful where a woman must depend on her own resources to support herself and her family?And from a woman’s perspective, men’s preferences are not the only thing that matters.”

Art credit: freeimages.co.uk

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