Scientific proof that men look at women’s breasts first and their face is almost last

Australia's Lara Bingle

WOMEN, no doubt wearing low cut tops, bikinis or see through blouses,  have long complained that their faces are often the last thing men look at. I’m sure they are pleased to know they are supported in that thought by a scientific study.

Researchers found that virtually half – 47 per cent – of men first glance at a woman’s breasts, which probably makes you wonder about the 53% of blokes in the study I guess.

A third of the “first fixations” are on the waist and hips, while fewer than 20 per cent look at the woman’s face. It is interesting to note that no actual figure on the total amount of men that were tested is mentioned, or, if the test was taken at a pole dancing venue, the beach or on the snow fields.

But I digress.

They found that not only are breasts often the first thing men look at, they also glance at them for longer than any other body part, the Daily Mail newspaper in the UK reported.

I’m sure most men like myself look at the size of a females breast purely from an engineering viewpoint. The first thing that comes to my mind when seeing a big breasted woman is;

How does she keep upright with them? Simply amazing!

Sorry, I’m digressing again

Researchers initially concluded that the reason might be evolutionary, as women with larger chests and slim waists – such as Jennifer Hawkins, Lara Bingle and Rachael Finch – have higher levels of the female hormone oestrogen, indicating greater fertility.

But they concede that there could be a simpler explanation.

Men may be looking more often at the breasts because they are simply aesthetically pleasing, regardless of the size

Subjects tested by researchers from New Zealand’s University of Wellington were presented with six images of the same woman, digitally altered to increase or decrease the size of her bust, waist and hips.

The scientists recorded which areas men looked at first, the number of times they looked, and how long their gaze lasted, using cameras and mirrors to measure tiny eye movements.

The study concluded

Eighty per cent of first fixations were on the breasts and midriff. Men spent consistently more time looking at the breasts and also made significantly more fixations upon them than other regions

It also found that men began to gaze at the “components of the hourglass figure” within 0.2 seconds.

The research also discovered that few glances were directed at the arms, lower legs and feet.

Personally I never had much success with the pickup line ‘nice arms!’ when dating, so I can probably understand that.

[Daily Telegraph]