The media has been telling us for years that thin female bodies are still judged as attractive. However, women's perception of what the perfect female figure is has evolved in recent years towards a "thin and firm" ideal. This is according to new research.
The researchers turned to the Miss USA contest, where winners are chosen annually. Competitors are judged primarily on their appearance and, in part, on how well they meet current beauty standards. Photos of the winners from 1999 to 2013 wearing two-piece swimsuits were shown to 78 women. Participants then had to rate the crowned beauties based on how muscular, thin and attractive they were. Based on these assessments, the team of researchers determined that recent winners no longer just exemplify the body ideal of thinness, but have become increasingly muscular over the past 15 years.
In a second study, the researchers examined whether the long-cherished ideal female figure of extreme thinness also changes to include improved firm muscles. Couples with pictures of 14 women were shown to 64 women. Each of the pairs was identical in all aspects, except in one version, the muscle definition of the woman's body was digitally removed. This resulted in one “just thin” image and another “muscular and thin” image. When the images were shown to participants to study individually, they rated the "only thin" and "muscled and thin" versions as equally appealing. When the images were presented side by side in pairs, the participants rated the thin, muscular figures as more attractive.
