Be it Jay-Lo or Beyonce, big butts are all the rage. While waif-like models continue to hold sway in the fashion industry, most men will readily admit their bootilicious leanings.
Two researchers, Steven Gaulin and William Lassek believe our attraction to an hourglass figure may have evolutionary significance. In a recent study, Lassek and Gaulin found that a woman’s waist to hip ratio had an impact on a child’s intelligence; curvy women birthed children with superior cognitive abilities. “Men respond because it’s reproductively important,” Lassek believes.
Omega-3 fatty acids, the same fat found in flax and certain types of fish, are believed to be the source of the benefits. These fats compose much of the human brain (which is 60% fat by dry weight). They are selectively stored in the hips and thighs beginning in adolescence. Notably, women do not begin metabolize these deposits except during the third trimester of pregnancy and during lactation - peak times for a child’s brain growth.
9 comments ↓
i agree, or something
That explains why both my children are exceptional! The first tested as “Highly Gifted - Intellect”, and is med school bound to become a reconstructive plastic surgeon. When she was conceived I was 36-25-35 The second, by the appraisal of her sister and teachers, is hands down, a genius. There are 11.5 years between them, and my waist, while still relatively small, at time of the younger’s conception was accompanied/ accentuated by 37″ hips. Now, at 47 years, my upper ratio is basically the same (a marvel since I don’t formally work out), however the lower has blossomed to an ample 39.25″. I won’t be gettin’ in that size 3 suede skirt no mo’! This is essentially my crowning glory (physically), seeing as although I grew up in South Central, and have always been a card carrying Black woman with a cute lil’ shape, (quite is kept), due to being “mixed”, I’ve really been perceived as a “fringe dweller” (that’s putting it nicely). Thank God for Dorothy Dandridge having paved the way for Halle, Alicia & Beyonce…. Now, I get an altogether different kind of appraisal. I jokingly proclaim that, thanks to the exponential increase in my hips, I’m no longer an “honorary” Black woman, but a “bonafide” Black woman! Now I understand this phenomenon of twenty & thirty somethings coming at me with such intensity… their wide-eyed wonder and all-consuming desire that I birth their children! My goodness! In my wildest dreams, who’d athunkit!? On a more serious note tho’, is it any wonder? Since, Truth be told, Africa, from whence the greatest of engineers, scientists, healers, architects, astronomers, mathemeticians, etc. hail, is understood to be the cradle of all humankind?!
[…] Where it Counts Big hips mean big brains. Curvy women birthed children with superior cognitive […]
@ Denise - LOL!
Love the feedback. You go girl
I posted my skepticism aboout this at my blog. There are too many variables that play into the make up of the human posterior for this to be taken seriously. Read the full spread at http://gengeo.typepad.com/diverseworld/
[…] Check this out: When It Comes To Determining Your Child’s Intelligence, Hips Don’t Lie. […]
Denise–whoa
It may play a part but there’s also the childbearing superiority suggested by wide hips which may not be medically true but merely symbolic. However a wide hip to narrow waist ratio is inherently feminine as it is the inverse of the male ideal of wide shoulders narrow hips. Wide hips also allow for more butt and thigh fat which helps women survive harsh winters(in primal times)
If it’s the case that wide hipped women birth intelligent kids and rich and powerful men seem to obtain these women then the children of the rich and powerful should be bright…..oops, Paris Hilton, oh well. I wonder if the most intelligent person of all time, Leonardo Davinci had a bootilicious mother.
By the way Denise, the greatest engineers, scientists, healers, architects, astronomers, mathemeticians, etc actually hail originally from the middle east as these things were a product of civilisations such as Sumeria, Babylon, greece, Rome etc. You are correct in that Africa is the cradle of humankind however.
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