Female body shape
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Female body shape, i.e. the body shape of a woman, has a bearing on a wide range of human activities, and there are and have been widely different body ideals of it in different cultures over history. The female figure is usually narrower at the waist than at the chest and hips, and usually has one of four basic shapes — banana, pear, apple or hourglass. The chest, waist and hips are called inflection points, and the ratios of their circumferences define these basic shapes. Body shape depends on skeletal structure and the distribution of fat in the body.
Some of these body shapes normally occur only in women, although some endocrine conditions or deliberate use of female hormones, such as by transsexuals, can produce them in male bodies. As with most physical traits, there is a wide range of normal female body shapes.
See also
- Glossary of shapes with metaphorical names
- Human variability
- Human body shape
- Physical attractiveness
- Sexual attraction
- Sexual dimorphism
- Sex in advertising
- Feminist perspectives on eating disorders
- Body proportions
- Big Beautiful Woman
- Clothing sizes
- Size zero
- Waist-hip ratio