>One of the very interesting findings of evolutionary psychology is that
>the old saying "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" is basically wrong.
>Cross-cultural studies of beauty reveal two key findings:  (1) the most
>desirable women have a waist-to-hip ratio between .6 and .8; (2) the
>most desirable mate has symmetrical features (both body and face).

Gregg, these are interesting facts.  Could you please give us a book, URL,
or other reference for more on this?

Also, I was wondering about fact #1 in reference to the question of fatness
being considered beautiful.  It's interesting that the ideal measurement is
a waist-to-hip ratio, rather than, say, width-to-height, which I would have
guessed.  That seems to imply that some cultures prefer fat women, others
thin; but in all cases, the waist/hip ratio is about the same.  Is that
true?  More broadly, how wide a variety of cultures did this survey include?

Thanks -- K.