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Faces and fortunes: What makes women attractive depends on how healthy the place they live is
The Economist ^ | May 3rd 2014

Posted on 04/30/2014 11:44:50 AM PDT by Gamecock

THAT health and beauty are linked is not in doubt. But it comes as something of a surprise that who is perceived as beautiful depends not only on the health of the person in question but also on the average level of health in the place where she lives. This, though, is the conclusion of a study just published in Biology Letters by Urszula Marcinkowska of the University of Turku, in Finland, and her colleagues—for Ms Marcinkowska has found that men in healthy countries think women with the most feminine faces are the prettiest whilst those in unhealthy places prefer more masculine-looking ones.

Ms Marcinkowska came to this conclusion by showing nearly 2,000 men from 28 countries various versions of the same female faces, modified to look less or more feminine, and thus reflect the effects of different levels of oestrogen and testosterone. Oestrogen promotes features, such as large eyes and full lips, that are characteristically feminine. Testosterone promotes masculine features, such as wide faces and strong chins.

As the chart shows, the correlation is remarkable—and statistical analysis shows it is unconnected with a country’s wealth or its ratio of men to women and thus the amount of choice available to men. The cause, though, is unclear.

Previous studies have shown that women with feminine features are more fertile. A man’s preference for them is thus likely to enhance his reproductive success. Ms Marcinkowska speculates that testosterone-induced behavioural characteristics like dominance, which might be expected to correlate with masculine-looking faces even in women (they certainly do in men), help in the competition for resources needed to sustain children once they are born. But why that should be particularly important in an unhealthy country is unclear.


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1 posted on 04/30/2014 11:44:50 AM PDT by Gamecock
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Somehow this is a pitch for 0bamacare.


2 posted on 04/30/2014 11:45:26 AM PDT by Gamecock (The covenant is a stunning blend of law and love. (TK))
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To: Gamecock

ttiuwp


3 posted on 04/30/2014 11:47:29 AM PDT by Uncle Miltie (Mohammed was a Child Rapist and Islam is a Totalitarian Death Cult.)
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To: Gamecock

Exclude 5 countries and there is not much there there.


4 posted on 04/30/2014 11:47:59 AM PDT by Paladin2
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To: Gamecock

Japan? I guess this poll was not taken around Fukishima.


5 posted on 04/30/2014 11:48:56 AM PDT by Mouton (The insurrection laws perpetuate what we have for a government now.)
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To: Gamecock

I hope this is not some study paid for by US taxpayers.


6 posted on 04/30/2014 11:49:40 AM PDT by NEMDF
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To: Gamecock

This thread is useless without pictures.


7 posted on 04/30/2014 11:51:00 AM PDT by yuleeyahoo (Liberty is not collective, it is personal. All liberty is individual liberty. - Calvin Coolidge)
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To: Gamecock

“Oestrogen promotes features such as large eyes.”

I have never heard of this or that large eyes are feminine.


8 posted on 04/30/2014 11:51:25 AM PDT by Reaganez
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To: Reaganez

You don’t like bug eyes?


9 posted on 04/30/2014 11:53:59 AM PDT by Roman_War_Criminal (Bible Summary in a few verses: John 14:6, John 6:29, Romans 10:9-10)
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To: Gamecock

In before the hoochie-mama photos that men can’t resist posting.


10 posted on 04/30/2014 11:54:19 AM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Technological progress cannot be legislated.)
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To: yuleeyahoo
OK


11 posted on 04/30/2014 11:54:58 AM PDT by Gamecock (The covenant is a stunning blend of law and love. (TK))
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To: Reaganez

Proportionately it is true. Hence why women put on eyeliner - make it look bigger.


12 posted on 04/30/2014 11:55:20 AM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Technological progress cannot be legislated.)
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To: Reaganez

“Doe-eyed” doesn’t ring a bell?


13 posted on 04/30/2014 11:57:05 AM PDT by Calvin Locke
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To: yuleeyahoo
This thread is useless without pictures.

OK, you asked for it...


14 posted on 04/30/2014 12:02:53 PM PDT by Cementjungle
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To: Gamecock

I’ve been in Nepal, and I saw a lot of attractive women there.


15 posted on 04/30/2014 12:10:54 PM PDT by MNDude
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To: Uncle Miltie

Attractive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NFWgG4_6NI

NOT attractive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o60v_reeZgw


16 posted on 04/30/2014 12:11:06 PM PDT by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both.)
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To: yuleeyahoo

i want to post a pic or two, but i do not know how...


17 posted on 04/30/2014 12:16:33 PM PDT by latina4dubya (when i have money i buy books... if i have anything left, i buy 6-inch heels and a bottle of wine...)
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To: Gamecock

Britain and Singapore have a healthier index? Color me suspicious.


18 posted on 04/30/2014 12:23:12 PM PDT by Resolute Conservative
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To: BenLurkin

Sir, you have just caused me to lust.


19 posted on 04/30/2014 12:25:59 PM PDT by MNDude
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To: latina4dubya
Simple.

Right click over the pic you want to post and select copy shortcut. You may need to click on properties and right click the web address in the box that pops open.

Type the following on FR: <img src="">

Paste the web address of the photo between the quotation marks.

20 posted on 04/30/2014 12:26:27 PM PDT by Gamecock (The covenant is a stunning blend of law and love. (TK))
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