Beauty, Bust, Bum, Brawn, or Brains?

Nature offers visible proof of a symphony of diversity. In fact, life is beautifully variegated in manifold respects. Call it a sweet pie.

Stirred by a recently released book Curvology: The Origins and Power of Female Body written by an evolutionary biologist at Cambridge University, I would like to pose this piquantly engaging question: What do African men look for in a woman? Beauty, bust, bum, brawn, brains, something banal or benign? Or, they simply want the whole package and more?

According to Professor David Bainbridge, the author, intelligence is by far the most attractive quality for men looking for a long term partner because it demonstrates that his chosen partner is likely to be a responsible parent. He also adds that it suggests she was raised by intelligent parents and so was likely to be well fed and looked after in childhood, and so healthier. In his own words, Professor Bainbridge said: "Breast size doesn't matter. The main thing that men are looking for is intelligence. Surveys have shown time and time again that this is the first thing men look for. It shows that she will be able to look after his children and that her parents were probably intelligent as well, suggesting that she was raised well."

Is it really true that men value intelligence in women far above striking beauty, large breasts, shaped derrière, and long legs?

Furthermore, Prof Bainbridge adds that men actually do not care how large breasts are as long as they are symmetrical. He told the Hay Festival that, "Actually large breasts are more likely to be asymmetric and men are more attracted to symmetry. And they look older more quickly, and men value youth."

While for legs, according to him, it only matters that they are straight, as bent, uneven legs suggest a developmental illness, like rickets. He said, "And men are not looking for long legs. Straight legs are a sign of genetic health so that is something that is more attractive, but surveys have shown most men prefer regular length."

Perhaps as an unsurprising argument, he posits that men also look for symmetry in facial and bodily features which suggests 'stable' genes and youthful partners. He even adds that studies have shown that men who are four to five years older than their partners are more successful.

What I found quite interesting is the idea that men do like women to be curvaceous with voluptuous thighs and bottoms, and a waist that is much slimmer than their hips, and that carrying a bit more weight on the thighs and the bottom suggests that a woman has stored enough fat during puberty to adequately provide for the huge requirements of a growing baby.

It was also quite eye-opening to learn that the development of babies' brains relies on fat supplies stripped directly from their mothers' thighs and bottoms, especially during breastfeeding, and that the quantity of such fat supplies may directly affect a child's intelligence and chances of survival. He even adds that it is one reason why such fat is the hardest of all to shift by dieting because the body instinctively saves it. He further argues that women have traded muscle for fat so they are about a third as strong.

Bainbridge makes a statement that may not come as a surprise to most of us, that "people are more likely to help, employ, give a reduced prison sentence to, want to be friends with, or admit to university attractive women with high status".

Reading some of the thoughts above made me stop and ask this important question: What exactly do African men really and truly want in/from their women?

In my article Self-improvement Diaries 1: The Overrated Feminine Form (https://angelinakmorrison.wordpress.com/2015/03/11/self-improvement-diaries-1-the-overrated-feminine-form/) I wrote, "I have heard it said, if your outer beauty attracts me, it is your inner beauty that will keep me. And while society will always continue to prattle on about outward beauty; as most women continue to discover, that type without a corresponding inward beauty, is truly overrated. So, go out and be a better you! It will make you more desirable. For as most men and women will agree: a rancid interior stains an exquisite exterior."

Aishwarya Rai

Aishwarya Rai

Personally, I think most genuine African men want a woman who is kind and respectful—and perhaps religious! After all, great beauty, bust, bum, brawn, or brains are worthless without godly character.

From the great book, there is sound advice worth following. 1 Peter 3:1-6 (KJV): "Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement."

In our truly religious society, I remain of the view that godly men will equally seek godly women. Yes, women who will continue to help them to live in line with God's Word, and not as their (women's) flesh dictate. In fact, they will prefer women in whom the Spirit of God dwells and those who act as a force for good.

King Solomon was right when he wrote, "Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised" (Proverbs 31:30 NKJV).

However, it may appear that some women are just too "spiritual" they don't take care of themselves, and succeed in driving away their supposedly godly husbands. Here again, balance (a priceless virtue) wins the day.

By writing this article, I am putting the question up for discussion. If you are an African man, what do you value most in a woman: beauty, bust, bum, brawn, or brains? Or your numero uno quality is godliness?

Moreover, if you are a woman, what does your husband value most in you? Or, what seems to be the main thing that future suitors appear to be drawn to?

We all have personal opinions on this topic. Let's get talking.

I shall surely return with not just my talking drums but a polygraph.

Angelina K. Morrison is interested in national development, true religion, and self-improvement. She enjoys thinking, and writes stories only when the muse grips her. Her first short story, Gravellatina is a breathtaking five-part gripping series available now at Amazon. You can email her at angelinakm75@gmail.com, or find her at www.angelinakmorrison.wordpress.com or Facebook page.