“Men who don’t find curvy women attractive ‘could father children with autism’” January 10, 2009

I just discovered this tidbit from the What’s Sorts of People blog.  (Let me cancel any suggestion that they endorse it!)  I don’t have time to comment, sadly, and anyway you might want to go over there to express your surprise.  The news is to be found in the Daily Mail who tell us

The new research from the University of Bath suggests that fathers of autistic children do not share the preference of men across the world for the curvier woman.

Studies show that the waist-to-hip ratio of 70 per cent is what the majority of men find most attractive because it correlates strongly with good health and fertility.

Now, just in case you are wondering why this isn’t cast in terms of the mothers’ figures, the fathers don’t seem to choose some one type.  Also, you need to know that the research is not finished.

Dr Brosnan said they are now contacting mothers of autistic children to determine whether body shape is a factor in autism.

‘We’d like to include mothers to examine what body shapes both parents of children with autism perceive to be attractive.

‘The next phase will then be to assess the actual dimensions of parents of children with autism.

I remain perplexed over the shift from “choose as the most attractive pictured women” to “choose as the most attractive women  (in something like real life).”   And the idea that identifying and assessing pictures is somehow culturally independent.  And then there’s the “because.” 

What do you think?  Need I ask that?

A nice sight January 10, 2009

I know we’ve been disappointed by some Obama actions so far, but I have to note how really quite amazing it is to have an image like this of the incoming president after the last 8 years.

Anonymous Application Dossiers? January 10, 2009

There’s a very interesting discussion going on at Pea Soup about the possibility of trying to reduce the role of bias in hiring decisions through rendering application dossiers anonymous. The focus is mostly on pedigree bias, though race and gender bias get a mention to. Go join in there, or tell us what you think here!