The Female Body Type Men Find Sexiest, As Determined By Science

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

First off, we need to start with a relatively obvious disclaimer: not all men are attracted to the exact same body type. The scientific studies we’re going to cover have collected data from surveys all over the world. With these results, they were able to figure out what the majority of men want (or at least, say they want) in a woman. But what the majority wants is not what everyone wants, so you shouldn’t think these results definitively prove that every single guy in your life is looking for the same thing.

In other words, if you have a man in your life and don’t fit this “ideal” body, you shouldn’t think he wants you to be any different. And if you’re single and don’t match these deals, don’t think you need to make any dramatic changes to your workout or diet routine. There’s truly someone out there for everyone (signed, someone who doesn’t exactly have an ideal body type), so don’t let the science get you down.

With that being said, let’s get into the surprising results of what men want and, even more surprisingly, why they want it!

The importance of an hourglass figure

Some modern research has discovered that men prefer women who have a waist-to-hip ratio of 0.70. In other words, their waist is narrower (30% narrower, to be precise) than their hips. This is the kind of “hourglass figure” that people often associate with old-timey Barbie dolls. Such associations have caused people to think this body type preference is similarly old-fashioned, but that’s not necessarily the case. Dr. Devendra Singh, for example, told Evie Magazine, “The evidence summarized in this paper demolishes the myth that beauty is ever-changing, skin-deep, and superficial. The attractiveness judgment based on figures defined by waist-to-hip ratio is a robust phenomenon evident in various cultures.”

Do men prefer the hourglass figure simply because they like skinnier women? Not necessarily. According to a 2019 study, men are actually subconsciously attracted to this body type because it signifies that such a woman would be their ideal mate. Some of this has to do with visual association: a low waist-to-hip ratio emphasizes the breasts, and men associate a larger bosom with greater fertility. But there is some truth to it on a biological level, as women with this ratio have higher levels of omega-3 docosahexaenoic acid, which improves infant brain development.

To some degree, Dr. Singh is obviously correct, and the hourglass frame has been presented as an ideal female body type for decades, if not centuries. If you believe the evolutionary research, this is because a preference for this type is actually encoded in many men on a genetic level!

The power of a healthy BMI

While it’s imperfect for many reasons, the body mass index (BMI) is usually a good assessment of how healthy someone is. What kind of BMI do men prefer when it comes to women? The answer is that men prefer women who are on the fuller side of a healthy BMI. A healthy BMI ranges from 18.5 to 24.9. According to a 2020 study, men actually prefer women who land somewhere between 23.01 and 23.46. This may explain the increasing preference for slightly curvier women over the years: a woman whose BMI is relatively close to 24.9 is going to have a curvier body compared to someone who is on the lower end.

Why, though, would men prefer women who are somewhere on the curvier side of healthy? As with large breasts or a thin waist, men generally associate this curvier physique with health and vitality. On a subconscious level, men imagine that a woman with this kind of body would give birth to similarly robust children, ones who are similarly strong and tall (men generally prefer taller women). In a way, this BMI information is good news for women looking to shed a few pounds. As it turns out, you don’t have to get skeletally thin, and men really do enjoy a woman with curves over one who is skin and bones!