| Lilith |
03-27-2010 03:35 PM |
Looking at curvy women 'gives men the same high as alcohol or drugs'
(gg)
By Fiona Macra
For millions of women fretting about their weight the news will be a huge relief, men prefer a curvier figure. Not only that, the effect on the male brain of a shapely woman is, apparently, comparable with that of beer and brandy. According to research, figures such as Beyonce's also light up the male brain in the same way as illegal drugs. Acknowledging that the findings were not groundbreaking, Dr Steven Platek reckoned: 'Hugh Hefner could have told us that by showing us how many zeroes are in his bank account. 'But there is more to it than buying Playboy, Maxim or FHM. The caucasian, westernised female has somehow been duped into thinking men like very skinny, waify, Kate Moss-type girls. Curviness is the trump card. It's worth it's reproductive weight in gold.' 'This research explains things like sexual harassment and whistling at the hot girl in the street. These findings could help further our understanding of pornography addiction and related disorders and lend to the scientific inquiry about infidelity.' Researchers in Georgia, in the U.S., scanned the brains of 14 young men as they looked at before and after pictures of nude women who had plastic surgery to give them more shapely hips and bottoms. The operations didn't reduce their weight, just redistributed it, the journal PLoS ONE reports. Seeing the post-operative shots excited the brain's 'reward centres' - regions more usually activated by drink and drugs. High waist to hip ratios - or hourglass figures - proved particularly stimulating. Dr Platek, of Georgia Gwinnett College, said this could be because wide hips have long been linked with good health - and the ability to carry healthy babies. However, altering a woman's weight only lit up areas involved in simple visual evaluations of research and shape. The study is one of several recently to offer hope to Miss Average. In December scientists announced that men don't hanker after women whose legs go forever. And last month they said having a big bottom is good for health.
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