The long waist:
Back when people were more exuberant and less rude, there was a gesture that a man would use indicating (to another man) that he appreciated the conformation of a woman’s body. He would hold his hands flat before him, palms together, and move them as if he were running them down the sides of the woman’s chest, waist then upper hips. Men like this part of a woman’s anatomy particularly well.
My friend, whom I have mentioned, tells me that the ideal ratio of waist size to hip size is 7. The ancient Greek golden mean would be about 6.1. When I was a sprat the ideal ratio of a woman’s waist to her hips was said to be .5. I suspect that styles change.
I don’t think it’s just men. A lot of non human animals seem to respond very eagerly to the sight of a woman. It’s mostly vertebrates, and I suspect it goes back to the days of the earliest known vertebrate (chordate, actually) fossil. We all like that shape although only woman and that fossil are known to have had it.
I suspect the shape was resurrected by women because they needed to attract older men. Sure, older men might have more genetic mutations, but they may also have higher sperm counts if those are in decline. And the population is in danger of dying out. I went into that in a little more detail in a stand up comedy routine I once did. Some day maybe I’ll present it. In fact, maybe I shall present the whole run. People mostly cruise the web looking for information and entertainment, and there really isn’t any reason not to offer both if they are available.
Anyway, women’s waists are attractive.
There was a friendly waitress the other day. Something struck me about her. She was not a small woman, nor skinny. But she had a short waist. I mean she didn’t have a long waist.
The long waist is a waist that starts high. The rib cage curves in and at the point it ends the side starts to flare out immediately. That is in contrast with the gesture, which places the narrowest place lower down.
When I point out to people that women’s waists are not what they used to be, I get told that women are fat. But that’s not true. Generally if a woman gets fat it goes to her thighs. It’s men and gorillas that have big guts. (Someone tell me why I’m supposed to eat salad to look svelte. Gorillas eat what amounts to salad.) So a woman shouldn’t lose her low waist because of fat.
I don’t know anybody who has made a study, but I spend a lot of time looking at women, and over decades I swear that the long waist has gone from being rare to being standard.
I wonder whether it is part of the same process of increasing individual genetic diversity. I don’t know. Long waisted woman are just as pretty. I don’t think it’s important. I doubt that a study could be designed to find out. But I do wonder.
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