Fat Chance of Attraction

For a certain subset of the male population—referred to in the scientific community as ‘fat admirers’—overweight women are the ideal.

For a certain subset of the male population—referred to in the scientific community as ‘fat admirers’—overweight women are the ideal. A recent study finds that not only do ‘fat admirers’ prefer overweight women, but that they also find a wider range of body sizes attractive than other men do. The study asked two groups of men—those who were scouted at FA events, and those who did not identify with the subculture—to rate black-and-white photographs of 10 female body types. The FAs were most attracted to the photo of a woman with a body mass index of 29.24. A BMI of 25 to 29.9 qualifies a person as overweight, while those above are obese. The study found that FAs considered a wider range of figures to be appealing, including those of two emaciated women (BMIs lower than 15). The control group, meanwhile, found the figure with a BMI of 18.45—which, technically, qualifies as underweight—the most attractive. They also rated the overweight and obese images more negatively. A researcher says, “For some FAs, health didn’t matter, and others are involved with fat acceptance movements, and are trying to redefine what is meant by ‘healthy.’”