It is hardly necessary to conduct a formal scientific study in order to determine that a woman's physical appearance is an important factor in her ability to attract members of the opposite sex. This idea is nothing new to us. Although the cultural standards of attractiveness have continued to change over the years (Marilyn Monroe vs. Twiggy vs. Cindy Crawford), the basic notion that beauty is essential to one's romantic success has remained. Little girls grow up playing with Barbie tm and know that they must look like Barbie if they want to find a Ken.

So why is it so important for a researcher to conduct a study of this nature, when the outcome is so utterly predictable? Firstly, we must ask ourselves, "Does life imitate art, or does art imitate life, or does art simply create its own idealized conception of how life should be?" Just because Seventeen Magazine, with its waif thin models and pages of hair and make-up tips, or Baywatch, with its well-endowed lifeguards sprinting down the beach, tell us one thing about the nature of physical appearance and sexual appeal, i

However, the issue I find most pressing to both college students and young women in general, is the fact that, independent of BMI, physical attractiveness, sexual experience, and relationship status, scores regarding body image were low across the board. Nearly every woman rated herself equally low. Why does this happen? Why are women so dissatisfied with their bodies, regardless of actual body size? In a culture in which women are continually objectified, and thinness (often, extreme thinness) is viewed as the ideal, it is hardly surprising that most women are unhappy with the current state of their bodies. However, this negative body image can be extremely emotionally and physically (as in cases of anorexia nervosa) damaging.

Given these results, Wiederman and Hurst attempt to answer the many questions raised by them: "Are these general relationships between body size and attractiveness and sexual experience due to a lack of opportunity, differential attitudes, or inhibition due to self-consciousness on the part of larger women?" As they found no significant relationship between BMI and negative sexual attitudes, it would not appear that lack of sexual experience among heavier women is a result of these women holding negative attitudes toward sex. Neither did data indicate that larger women had a strong tendency to avoid social situations due to self-consciousness about their appearance. Hence, Wiederman and Hurst concluded that the relationship between BMI and lack of sexual experience could most logically be the product of a lack of opportunity due to less interest by potential partners.

Significance of the Article to the Field of Human Sexuality:

t doesn't mean that all people agree with or pay attention to the standards set forth by these media. Many studies have actually indicated that men prefer women to be slightly heavier than the ideal weight most women assume men to desire. So, do physical appearance and body size actually play the enormous role that we, as a culture, believe them to in determining a woman's ability to attract men, or are other issues, such as self-perceived attractiveness and body image, more important? These are the questions which Michael W. Wiederman and Shannon R. Hurst sought to answer through their 1998 study entitled, "Body Size, Physical Attractiveness, and Body Image among Youn

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