On the aesthetics of hips

I went to a Halloween party yesterday in which the norm for the girls wasn’t to wear something scary. It was to wear the sluttiest thing they could find.

To get to the point, there was a particular girl that looked incredible. She had the most amazing hips I’ve ever seen. She also had legs that looked strong enough to snap a torso in half. Had she lived in classical times I’m sure there would have been statues of her all around the ancient world.

It’s very clear by now her body was pleasing to my eyes, but why is this so? Why did I think she was hot?

A while back I read a possible evolutionary explanation on attraction. We are supposedly attracted to people we think are better at reproducing, which would entail that we are attracted to people we deem healthy. This certainly explains the fact that a few hundred years ago fatter people (excluding obesity) were seen as more attractive. At a time when a significant amount of people died because of malnutrition, being fat meant you were able to eat enough to survive and be healthy.

This explanation seems accurate when it comes to my preference for voluptuous women with big hips. It’s safe to say they can sustain a pregnancy and give birth to healthy children (putting any other nonvisible health problems aside).

But what about the current culture that favors stick thin models? In my opinion they don’t just look bad; they look like they’re about to keel over from starvation. Being able to carry a pregnancy to term certainly does not cross anyone’s mind when looking at them. This is a major objection to the evolutionary explanation of what we find attractive. I need to read up on it to find out how they deal with this.

At least there’s a visible change right now to more voluptuous female role models. It doesn’t make the ideal of the default attractive body any more real or attainable, but at least it encourages girls to have meat on their bones.

Kann ich eine zigarette schnorren?

On my way to class today I found Amir having a cigarette in front of the NYU Cooper Square building. He taught me the above question in German, which literally translates to “can I bum a cigarette?” I became a little lightheaded ’cause I haven’t had one in over a month. I really need to stop smoking.

Smoking could be considered one of life’s tragic pleasures. What I mean by tragic pleasure is the fact that smoking is very relaxing and can act as a “social lube” at times, but it is also a very unhealthy habit. I’ve had many intellectual conversations with friends where a cigarette was present in my hand, making the conversations more fluid and articulate. Darkened lungs are the price I’m paying for that relaxing feeling.

My interest in what I deem life’s tragic pleasures is relatively new. People want to live a long live, but they enjoy things that will most likely shorten their life. Earlier this semester I smoked and drank way too much with Kosy, a good friend and ex-roommate. It certainly made life very interesting and relaxed. The disadvantage was that it robbed me of too much time, time I could have used to think, to study, to read. Life’s tragic pleasures taken in excess don’t let one function properly. I could have a thousand insightful thoughts thanks to a nice drink or a cigarette, but if I’m too far gone on my “trip” then it was all in vain.

Last year I was talking with someone about the use of drugs for pushing beyond a mind block and gaining insight. The drugs are only to help push you to the limit of your mind. That insight you get when you push and win is of no use if you don’t have your normal logical faculties to interpret it. For that you have to be sober.

I need a break from life’s tragic pleasures. I should just read for a while.