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Comment by vovavili | Hacker News Reader

>These days, a full-figure on a woman is considered attractive, but in the 1990s, being skinny was in vogue.

This is usually based on a selective and wishful interpretation of historical data. The best argument I've found is here - https://www.jsanilac.com/dispelling-beauty-lies/

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I was alive in the 1990s. "Heroic chic" was definitely a thing.

I'm also alive now. It's not hard to find big butts being idolized.

Your linked article is not very scientific. For example, it cites porn-store purchasing preference as evidence of actual male taste in partner selection.

>Your linked article is not very scientific.

That's the whole point. Due to the touchiness of the subject matter, these kinds of topics would be quite difficult to discuss frankly in a politicized institution guarded by a peer review process.

I didn't mention peer review. The bare minimum for scientific analysis is conclusion drawn from observations based on data points. This article is more like a rant occasionally augmented by pictures of anime boobs. There is no attempt at scientific rigor. A serious presentation could have maintained the rigor even outside the peer-review process (which, despite your assertion, would likely have no objection to the subject matter).

I think what you're trying to say is that this article isn't at the highest level of epistemic certainty. That's not surprising for a given subject matter. The author explicitly acknowledges that -https://www.jsanilac.com/dispelling-beauty-lies/#:~:text=Don...

I was alive in 1992, "Baby Got Back" hit number one on the charts.

> This is usually based on a selective and wishful interpretation of historical data

My lived experience says they're right. In the 90s one didn't have a "phat ass", one was just a "fatass".

> The best argument I've found is here

The article is too long. Judging about beauty standards by using sex dolls as an example is not very smart, first, because they are targeted to a small niche audience with specific tastes, second, they do not look especially attractive in the photos in the article. Also the font is awful and a pain to read.

Evil Vizier’s work on the topic is fascinating

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