Petite, leggy women with big busts are the most sexually attractive, study reveals

Small women with long legs are the most sexually attractive to men, scientists claim.

Females such as Scarlett Johansson, Raquel Welch and Marilyn Monroe with short slender bodies, large busts and slim limbs have the ideal body shape, according to research.

Dr William Brown, of Brunel University, which carried out the study, said: 'We found that shorter, slimmer females with long slender limbs and larger breasts are more attractive.'

Body symmetry is important to what men and women find aesthetically pleasing in each other, the research suggests.

Previous studies had demonstrated that those with facial features that are symmetrical - so the left and right sides of the face match - are more attractive to the opposite sex.
But the relationship between body symmetry and attractiveness has been less clear.

In the Brunel research, both men and women reported that symmetric bodies were more attractive than asymmetric ones.

The scientists claim, however, that we do not notice symmetry in the body directly, but instead look for much more obvious signs of attractiveness such as height, leg length and shoulder definition.

This means women with low 'body masculinity' - who are short with long legs and a larger bust - are highly desirable to men.