Men and women mostly agree when asked to design the ideal male and female bodies, a recent study found. Men and women participants described the best male body as shaped similar to an upside down pyramid, with broad shoulders and a lean waist. The ideal female form looked like an hourglass, with large breasts and a waist that is quite a bit narrower than hips. 

British researchers surveyed 80 people around the age of 19 — 40 heterosexual men and 40 heterosexual women. They gave each respondent a computer with three-dimensional, editable computer renderings of human bodies, asking them to adjust the images until they had arrived at their own ideal body type and the ideal body type for the opposite gender. 

The research team also noted the body measurements of the volunteers, comparing their self-described ideals with their actual figures. The ideal female form was more slender than the average female respondent’s body, while the ideal man’s hips were narrower than the actual typical man’s. 

UCLA communications professor Kerri Johnson tells the Today show that people likely respond well to bodies with extreme signs of femininity or masculinity. 

“At some point you’d think that a very small waist-to-hip ratio would be seen as unnatural and unattractive, but we have not hit that lower boundary,” Johnson tells The Today Show. “In fact, people tell us they look natural and very attractive even when shaped like Barbie.”

Of course, very few of us are naturally blessed with an “ideal” figure, even when eating right and exercising! If you are a woman who wishes she had a thinner physique with a narrower waist and/or a more shapely bust, contact Christopher Craft Cosmetic Surgery. Christopher Craft, M.D., the best plastic surgeon in Miami, can help you meet your aesthetic goals and get the body of your dreams!