Women’s Curves Mesmerize Men, Study Shows

Men prefer a woman with curves, according to a new study, which showed that an hourglass figure is an intoxicant for the male brain.

Millions of women who worry about their weight may be able rest a bit easier, thanks to a new study that shows men prefer a curvier figure. Not only that, but the effect of a curvy woman can have on a male brain is similar to the intoxication experienced with alcohol and illegal drugs.

Researchers at Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville, Georgia 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. The woman’s weight was not reduced, just redistributed by implanting fat harvested from the waist and buttock.

In the study, seeing the pictures of the women post-op excited the brain’s “reward centers” — regions typically activated by alcohol and drugs. The study suggests that the presumption that males judge the attractiveness of a female by assessing her body fat are based on society’s expectations rather than tendencies that are hard-wired in the brain.

Women with hourglass figures, or high waist to hip ratios, proved particularly stimulating, according to the findings. Lead researcher Steven Platek, an evolutionary cognitive neuoscientist, attributes this to the fact that shapely hips in women have often been linked overall good health, and the ability to carry healthy babies.

The study also found that general changes in a woman’s body mass index (BMI) only affected the area of the brain that was linked to simple visual evaluations, like size and shape. This may be further proof that body fat influences the perception of female beauty as a result of societal norms more than brain wiring.

“The media portrays women as wholly too skinny,” Platek told FoxNews.com. “It’s not just about body fat, or body mass index.”

For women whose natural curves don’t measure up to the “optimal design”, as determined by the researchers, the study findings demonstrate the benefits of procedures like breast and buttock augmentation. After all, more curves are not just more appealing, they’re downright intoxicating. And what woman wouldn’t want to make a man drunk with lust?

Platek and his colleague Devendra Singh detailed their findings in the online journal PLoS ONE