Here’s a suspect little piece of reporting from The Sun claiming that women prefer skinny models:

“Researchers handed 470 women pictures of models of various sizes. Two-thirds gave a positive reaction towards the skinnier ones. Only one in three reacted positively when faced with a larger model. Those who preferred the skinnier models said they were “more elegant, interesting, likeable and pleasant”. The survey comes after organisers banned “super-skinny” models from Madrid Fashion Week.

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell backed the decision, and urged London Fashion Week bosses to do the same. But Professor Brett Martin, of Bath University, where the study was carried out, said its findings proved women would not respond better to models of “average” build. He said adverts featuring thin models were more likely to convince women to buy products.”

What The Sun seems to be missing here is that emaciated “Fashion Week” models are not the same sort of “thin” as models you see in advertising. Still, if 470 British women are in partial agreement about something, it must be true.
[Thanks, JP!]

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