We’ve all got our favorite body parts on the fairer sex. Chances are, you’re a boob / bum / legs / earlobe kind of guy (delete as appropriate). It should come as no surprise, then, that ladies think in the same way.
We’ve rounded up the five male body parts most likely to catch the eye, and you might be surprised by what’s not included on the list.
Torso
According to a 2017 study by online health provider Dr Felix, 24 percent of women found the chest to be the most attractive part of a man, and 13 percent opted for the stomach area, meaning that combined, the torso had more pulling power than any other appendage. That’s not to say this just applies to gym-honed Adonis bods, though – Yale University anthropologist Richard Bribiescas has claimed that women are more likely to find dad bods attractive. Apparently, a little cushion for the pushin’ is a sign that you’re healthier and will live longer. Which is reassuring in more ways than one.
Eyes
Whether it’s David Gandy’s icy baby blues or Idris Elba’s dreamy chocolate swirls, women are suckers for a great pair of peepers. But not all eyes are created equal – and we’re not just talking about whether you’ve got a serious varifocal prescription.
The limbal ring – or that bit where the iris meets the white of your eye – can be a different colour to your eye, and a 2011 study by Darren Peshek at the University of California found that men with a dark limbal ring were perceived as more attractive.
And while there’s not really much you can do about the size of your eyes, a study by Dr Kang Lee, a psychologist at The University of Toronto, found that people with ‘average’ sized and positioned eyes were seen as most attractive, thanks to our brains being wired to look for the most ‘mathematically average’ features, as these apparently signify a diverse set of genes and better reproductive health.
Fancy working out the maths? According to the study, the optimum space between the eyes and mouth should be about a third of the length of your face, and the distance between your eyes should be just under half of your face’s width.
Arms
They might not be the thing that first comes to mind when you’re ranking female body parts, but arms gained 19 per cent of the vote on the Dr Felix study, putting them right up there on the list of lusts if you ask the other way round. It’s not just beefcake biceps that tick the box, either.
Great, hulking upper arms may have once been the sign of an alpha male, but these days women are more into Ryan Gosling than Jean-Claude Van Damme. In 2017, the strong forearm plays a role that’s just as important – Cosmopolitan magazine elaborated on this, with writer Anna Breslaw concluding, “I have this theory that forearms are visually like a dick substitute, because of the veins and stuff”. We’ll leave that visual with you.
Mouth
Sucker for a great smile? Well as it turns out, women don’t feel the same. An in-depth study by Professor Jessica Tracy at the University of British Columbia claims to have cracked the allure of the ‘bad boy’, as the findings seemed to show that women were least attracted to smiling, happy-looking men, and more inclined to opt for the brooding type.
The study showed that women associated a man with a sultry expression with status, competence and the ability to provide. Strong and silent it is, then.
Back & Shoulders
In a 2013 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers made a discovery that should influence your gym routine. The study asked women to select their preferred body type from a selection of 3-D figures. While women did often opt for taller and better-endowed figures (typical…), the scientists also found a surprise runaway hit – a strong shoulder-to-hip ratio. In other words, having a broad, V-shaped back will make you more attractive. Form an orderly queue at the pull-down machine.
