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Abstract
The theory of sexual selection suggests that physical displays, such as the peacock's train, are demonstrations of the biological qualities of these animals to potential mates. Physical evaluation of potential sexual partners is also fundamental to human mate choice. In Western culture, this is extended to the media where the depiction of young, attractive people is commonplace. If the peacock's train represents its biological status or 'health', sexual selection theory implies that human 'sex-appeal' is first and foremost 'health-appeal'.
A number of workers studying attractiveness have used Playboy magazine's playmate statistics – which are of questionable veracity and limited anthropometric scope. Attention is given here to the non-sexual, biological message of that magazine's centrefold image. In effect, the health message of glamour images is addressed. The image may be considered qualitatively and quantitatively. The former is able to recognize certain recurring or consistently absent characteristics – some of which are considered. The latter is not a photogrammetry in the usual sense – physical measurements of the person in the image cannot be ascertained - but certain image proportions can be derived. In particular, leg length as a proportion of apparent model height is found to be high. This, in relation to the findings of other workers is considered. The wider implication given by these carefully posed, post-processed, glamour images, is that health might be better understood as an ideal, rather than an average, biological state.
As you can see, my title is slightly tentative. I use the word 'might'. In this presentation, I want to make a series of observations before, towards the end, making some more specific comments pertinent to my own particular interests – which in themselves lead on to something else.
What attracts one person to another has been the focus of research by a number of workers. Particular attention has been placed on what it is that makes women attractive to men.
Famously, men shown otherwise equivalent drawings of females – save for the sculpting of the waist – tend to find a waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) of 0.7 more attractive than other such ratios (Singh, 1993; Singh and Young, 1995). More recently however, others have suggested that Body Mass Index (BMI) might be a more important factor (Maisey et al., 1999; Tovee and Cornelissen, 1999; Tovee and Cornelissen, 2001; Tovee et al., 1997; Tovee et al., 1998).
But despite work such as this, fundamental questions about the notion of attraction remain to be asked.
Consider the following image by the photographer Joel-Peter Witkin.
Joel-Peter Witkin - Beauty has Three Nipples, Berlin. 1998
This is one of Witkin's less disturbing images of the human body. We immediately notice the unusual nipple arrangement on the left breast but notice much later that the model has a ship on her head, that she is carrying a dagger and that there is a ladder standing in mid-air over her left shoulder.
But for the nipples, the model has all the prerequisites for being attractive. But this one small blemish is likely to make her appear quite unattractive to most observers.
Similarly, consider the following advertising image (from the Radio Times (advertising, I think, one of Fisons gardening products) which appeared last year (2002).
The degree of upper-body muscle development shown by this man is not to everyone's taste but when coupled with …
… the degree of underdevelopment below the waist, it is enough to turn off those otherwise attracted to his top half.
Attraction, therefore, is not simple; it is not merely a matter of responding to certain enticing body components in isolation. Even a relatively small defect appears to be able to derail the whole process.
If this is indeed the case, it may well be that when we look at people, we are not so much weighing up how attractive they are but evaluating instead their 'lack of unattractiveness' – their lack of flaws.
This is not mere word play.
These flaws result from a variety of sources. Some are genetic, others developmental or the result of injury or disease. All such flaws say something about the organism of which they are an integral part. If that organism is a potential sexual partner, then something may be implied about their reproductive potential – genetic or otherwise.
In work on attraction, some have used the data published in 'Playboy' magazine to make inferences about attractive female body shapes. These 'data' have to be used with caution. At best, they can only be described as 'self-reported' and even then they are somewhat limited, consisting of: place and date of birth, height, weight, and bust, waist and hip measurements.
What these workers have not done is to consider the published images and what they infer. So, given that the 'Playmate' data has been given so much attention elsewhere and that pictures of 'Playmates' are readily available on the internet, I have given some attention to the centrefold image instead. But it is with that image alone that I am concerned. Stylistically, this image is closer to portraiture than mere titillation and, although depicting nudity, is not overtly explicit or provocative in the way that other images can be. The centrefold image might even be described as a 'type-image' as it in some way portrays the model in a definitive fashion.
The centrefold image, although the largest of those published, is still a less than life-sized depiction of the model and, what is more, is only two-dimensional. In the same way that René Magritte (1898-1967) was able to suggest:
so, we might assume:
However, whereas Magritte's painting cannot elicit lung cancer, the centrefold image can elicit a response in some viewers. In so doing, the image conveys a biological message -not a message directly from one person to another, but a 'broadcast' message about the model, nonetheless.
We need to explore what that message might be. Is it just a message about sex; an offer of reproductive activity or is there something else? Something usually overlooked yet perhaps more fundamental.
We could approach the centrefold image in a typically scientific way and make a quantitative analysis of some sort.
Using a tracing of Playboy's Miss January 2001 as an example, we could suggest dividing up the image in certain ways such as above and below the navel or above and below, what I have called, 'delta' – and relating these parts to the model's image height and investigate the proportions that result.
Not all images allow this but some information can be gleaned. Based upon a sample consisting of the last ten upon which this can be done -
Dividing the model above and below the navel, we get the following proportions:
Above Navel: 37.1%
Below Navel: 62.9%
Dividing her above and below 'delta', we get these proportions:
Above 'Delta': 48.8%
Below 'Delta': 51.2%
I do not wish to dwell upon these data too much other than to show that this can be done and to note, in passing, the proportions below the two reference points.
This is not a photogrammetric approach in the usual sense where one is taking measurements from a photograph posed in a standardized fashion. It is not a measurement of the person in the picture at all but a measurement of the person's picture - significantly, a measurement of how that person has been depicted. By definition, they have been posed to their best possible advantage and the best image of the batch chosen for publication.
Importantly, it is noticeable that camera angle can be used to alter and enhance bodylines and proportions. In addition, computerized post-processing is used to alter a range of characteristics – for example, the removal of mammoplasty scars and other skin blemishes, the whitening of eyes and teeth etc. Thus, this image is indeed “pas une femme”. It portrays not so much the model but what can be made photographically out of her.
To attain a physique worthy of consideration for being a 'Playmate' requires, first of all, a certain basic body type which is, in turn, the product of a certain genetic constitution and a successful developmental history. Given the right type of body, it must then be maintained by physical exercise, attention to diet and (quite often) enhanced by cosmetic surgery.
Dolly Parton has an old adage that “it takes a lot of money to look this cheap”.
This picture takes a wry swipe at the effort involved …
Anatomy of a Pin-Up Photo – Ellen Steinberg aka Annie Sprinkle
… but it also succeeds, I hope, in amplifying a point to which I want to draw attention – that a centrefold image (and the message it conveys) takes a lot of effort and build-up. There is obviously something important about it.
We could also examine the image by looking not only at the model's body but at everything that appears in the image. Arguably, this has an evolutionary basis. The centrefold image is not of the model alone but includes what we might describe as 'extensions to her phenotype' - after Richard Dawkins' concept of the 'Extended Phenotype' (Dawkins, 1989). In so doing, we notice that the settings are always vibrant, ranging from plush and well-to-do interiors or sun-kissed beach or swimming pool settings. The model and the setting complement each other.
We could count the number of times that certain things appear or are shown as part of the centrefold image. We notice that, nowadays, the model always makes eye contact with the viewer and that her torso is always shown from one side or another.
But, interestingly, it is the legs that seem to be particularly important. Of the last fifty images available at the time of final draft (from Miss February 1999-Miss April 2003), twenty-seven (54%) show at least one whole straight leg. Another nine showed at least one whole leg flexed in some way - raising the total to thirty-six (72%).
As noticed earlier, the below navel and below 'delta' proportions, which include leg length, each make up a substantial proportion of the model's apparent height. Leg length is often accentuated by the model wearing high heeled shoes (sometimes in the absence of anything else!) or, interestingly, by the model standing on tiptoes for no apparent reason or, if she is reclining, by pointing her toes.
It is not simply a matter of short women wanting to look taller.
The tallest 'Playmate' ever was Miss December 2000 who was 6'2” tall. Yet her centrefold image shows her wearing heels that must have added another 3” or 4” to her height and her hair would have added perhaps another inch on top - her overall height would have reached a total of at least 6'6”.
The issue of leg length is probably significant. At Bristol, Davey-Smith and colleagues (Davey Smith et al., 2001; Gunnell et al., 1998a; Gunnell et al., 1998b; Gunnell et al., 2003; Lawlor et al., 2003a; Lawlor et al., 2003b; Lawlor et al., 2002) have suggested relationships between leg length and such conditions as insulin resistance, coronary heart disease and cancer risk. Those with longer legs in proportion to their bodies are apparently at lower risk of such conditions than those with shorter legs.
The 'Playmate' may, therefore, be signalling not only her sexual desirability but also her reproductive fitness given that her resistance to conditions such as those mentioned will increase her longevity and her scope for breeding.
An alternative way of looking at these images is to note what is never seen. We never see extra nipples, as in the Witkin image, above; we never see crooked, decaying or missing teeth, squinting eyes, hearing aids - we never see a whole host of blemishes, flaws or other physical defects. We never see anything that detracts from an impression of physical perfection.
In short, what we do see is a seemingly perfect physical specimen – albeit with the help of cosmetic surgeons, make-up artists, set designers and photographic and computer technicians. But that is the point. A lot of effort goes into sending the best possible message.
For a long time, the peacock's train was a puzzle – why should he grow such an energetically costly, cumbersome and potentially disadvantageous object? The answer now accepted is that the peacock's train is an advertisement for the physical qualities of its owner. A better developed, more symmetrical train represents a healthier peacock reflecting, in turn, a more robust genetic constitution. Mating with such will produce a better outcome for the peahen (Petrie, 1994).
Arguably, at a cultural level, the centrefold image is 'selling sex'. This is not disputed. But more fundamental to this is a message about the potential outcome of that sex (that is, that copulation with the 'Playmate'). Since offspring resemble their parents, to have a 'Playmate' as the mother of one's children means getting, not sexy, but healthy children. The offspring will be healthy because their 'Playmate' mother is visibly healthy.
We can suggest, therefore, that there is no 'sex-appeal' without 'health-appeal'.
But when it comes to the concept of health, idealism – as portrayed by the 'Playmate' – is problematic. The famous WHO definition that 'health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity' has been criticized for being idealistic or 'perfectionistic' (Taylor, 1979). Since “complete physical, mental and social well-being” is unattainable, it implies that everybody is unhealthy. (One such criticism along these lines, by Taylor, is quoted at length on my poster.)
This reaction against the 'perfectionism' of the WHO definition does not seem unreasonable but at the same time, we have in the 'Playmate' what we might describe as the 'Perfecting of Women'. The visual representation is not simply that of a model but of “what can be made photographically out of her”.
Linking the two is the notion of 'health' or at least the physical state that gives rise to the invention of the word. Yet, in what I have just described, we find two opposing attitudes prevailing when it comes to theoretical and practical matters.
I requested that I be allowed to speak first today partly because what I have been discussing might appear to be slightly out of the ordinary for such meetings but mainly so that I could point you towards my poster because I am keen to have constructive responses to its ideas. My interest is not attraction but the biological bases to the attribution of words like 'disease' and 'health'. Various attempts at producing precise definitions of these words have proved largely unsuccessful. Exploring the meaning of these words remains a live topic.
On the poster, which is still a rather preliminary sketch, I have attempted to use two biologically problematic notions – that of the ideal (as highlighted here) and that of the individual – to begin to develop a model of the 'biological states' that we interpret as 'diseased' and 'healthy'.
'Biological state' is a general term that I have chosen to adopt to reflect the combined anatomical and physiological condition of an organism and of its component parts, the intention being that by focusing on what lies beneath 'disease' and 'health', a better biological basis for definition formation might emerge.
References
Davey Smith G, Greenwood R, Gunnell D, Sweetnam P, Yarnell J, and Elwood P (2001) Leg length, insulin resistance, and coronary heart disease risk: The Caerphilly study. J. Epidemiol Community Health 55:867-872.
Dawkins R (1989) The Extended Phenotype: the long reach of the gene. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gunnell D, Davey Smith G, Frankl S, Nanchahal K, Braddon F, Pemberton J, and Peters T (1998a) Childhood leg length and adult mortality: follow up of the Carnegie (Boyd Orr) survey of diet and health in pre-war Britain. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 52:142-152.
Gunnell D, Davey Smith G, Holly J, and Frankl S (1998b) Leg length and risk of cancer in the Boyd Orr cohort. BMJ 317:1350-1351.
Gunnell D, Whitley E, Upton M, McConnachie A, Smith G, and Watt G (2003) Associations of height, leg length, and lung function with cardiovascular risk factors in the Midspan Family Study. J. Epidemiol Community Health 57:141-6.
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