One Man's Meat

Not Since Dr. Kinsey's interviewers trudged cross country asking coy young things the scientific equivalent of "Have you had it lately?" has the noble art of empirical research produced such a fascinating set of statistics.

Male Preferences for Female Figure Types, it's called, and it was prepared by a top-flight research organization. The report comes in a neat, brown folder – and looks very much like a market analysis, financial presentation, or similar bit of business trivia. The report contains enough academic gibberish to delight any Ph. D., but the meat of it (if you'll excuse the expression) is far removed from the realm of markets and finance.

The sponsor of the research and resulting report is the H. W. Gossard Company, manufacturers of women's foundation garments. They wanted to find out just how men like their women stacked. Presumably so that they can manufacture garments that will reshape the female population to a reasonable facsimile of the average guy's preference.

To make the statistics manageable, four basic figure types were selected: the conventional Junior, Miss, and Woman types, plus a mysterious group designated Type "X."

The "Junior" figure was defined as a 34" bust, 24" waist, 34" hips. The "Miss" category had a more generous helping of everything: 35" bust, 25" waist, 35" hips. The "Woman" figure was more mature, with a 36" bust, 29" waist, and 38 1/2" hips.

The special interest, however, was added by the "X" type. "X" for "Extra," perhaps, since this is the sort of figure usually seen in publicity pictures with captions like "Miss Grapefruit of 1954." You know the kind–"Miss Grapefruit" in a low-cut bit of nothing, leaning over a basket of fruit which is paled into insignificance by her luscious offerings. Type "X" measured in with a 36" bust, 22" waist, and 36" hips, which explains why she rates a category all by herself.

Four models were then selected who exactly met the specifications of the four categories. These young ladies were dressed exactly alike and were given masks to rule out individual preferences in faces. Then the four masked beauties and an interviewer, armed with pencil and note-book, descended on the unsuspecting male populace.

The quartette cornered Mr. Average Man in all his typical work-and-play hangouts. They would enter an office, for example, and (without much difficulty) gain the attention of a suitable number of executives, junior executives, and office boys. The men were asked to examine the four young ladies – visually, if you please. Then, while their pulses were still thumping, they were asked which figure type they preferred. The interviewer also recorded such other pertinent data as age, occupation, and marital status.

In the course of the survey, the girls were paraded before city councilmen, ogling fraternity boys, baseball fans, salesmen, business heads, and the ubiquitous man-on-the-street. Then, the sampling completed, the girls retired to that limbo where models go when the last leggy picture has been snapped, and the slide-rule boys began what they call "the analysis and evaluation of derivative data."

They happily skewed curves, set up graphs, established correlations of coefficients, and generally had a fine old time sorting and classifying the drooling opinions expressed by the men of the nation.

Out of their columns of figures and tabulated statistics came the final report. Here is what they found, and there are some surprises in the results.

The single most impressive finding is the older a man gets, the less he cares for the "X" or "Miss Grapefruit" type. As he ages, perhaps conscious of his own limitations, he begins preferring his women with a more conventional figure.

As might be expected, the upstarts under the age of 24 took to the grapefruit figure by a healthy 75%. Between the ages of 25 to 39, however, the preferences for Miss "X" dropped to 54%. And after 40, only a meager 25% are able to raise an eyebrow when she swishes by.

When Miss "X" was eliminated from the running, most men seemed to prefer the "Miss" figure, but there was a noticeable swing towards the more womanly body as the man grew older. Of the men under 24, 30% preferred the "Junior" figure over other conventional types, 60% preferred the "Miss" figure, 10% the "Woman" type.

Of the middle aged men, 25 to 39, only 20% liked the "Junior" figure, 47% the "Miss," and 33% the "Woman." With older men, 40 and above, 25% preferred the "Junior" shape, 34% the "Miss," and 41% the "Woman."

The researchers also picked up some interesting information on married men. The lucky guys who had wives with "X" type figures understandably preferred them that way by a solid 100%. And there were 76% of the men with "Miss" type wives who were totally satisfied. But the "happy with her as she is" quotient dropped to 58% with the "Junior" type, while only 48% of the hubbies with "Woman" type wives were really content.

A female fashion writer has already written her way around the survey with: "Don't worry, girls. This thing only proves that every figure type has its following." Meaning a girl on the make should work the men who prefer her type and she's in.

Naturally, the Freudians got in their licks, too. A psychiatrist, who wishes to remain anonymous, points to the increased interest in the girlish "Junior" figure among older men and says it represents a form of regression –an unconscious desire to return to youth, schooldays, and high school sweethearts. On the other hand, a younger man drawn to the more mature "Woman" figure probably has a mild Oedipus complex – an unconscious attachment to mom.

What does all this mean to you? Well, Gossard's findings can probably be interpreted in a number of different ways, but we prefer to look at it like this: A guy can dream about Miss Grapefruit, the fabulous "X" type beauty, and still be happy with one of the less sensational varieties.

And considering the scarcity of "X" type females, it's a damn good thing.

Woman

Miss

Junior

Type "X"