Sir - Yu and Shepard have shown that, although it is widespread, the phenomenon of men finding pictures of women more attractive if the image has a low waist-to-hip ratio is not culturally invariant [1]. This aesthetic does not extend to Matsigenka men, isolated deep in Manu Park, Peru. These men prefer thick-waisted women. A good thing, since that apparently describes healthy young Matsigneka women. The authors make the reasonable suggestion that the apparent invariance of preferences in earlier studies 'may have only reflected the pervasiveness of western media.' Apparently, Matsigenka men do not share this aesthetic because 'their degree of isolation is about as high as can be obtained today.'

I found this result so interesting that I prepared a lecture on it for my behaviour class. I searched the www for pictures of the Matsigenka (also spelled 'Machiguenga') and found something ironic and amusing. At a site on Village Life of the Machiguenga, maintained by E. Russo, who collaborates with G. Shepard, there is a photo of a Matsigenka couple, Mateo and Aleja [2]. Mateo is holding an ocelot. Aleja is wearing a Bart Simpson T-shirt. The Matsigenka's isolation may be 'about as high as can be obtained today,' but that is not enough to escape Bart Simpson. Luckily, it is not a Marge Simpson T-shirt. That would have suggested that the preference for thick-waisted women might also have been influenced by the western media.

1. Yu, D. W. & Shepard, G. H. Nature 396, 321-322 (1998).
2. Village Life of the Machiguenga: [http://www.montana.com/manu/village.html]
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