Images of fit, toned bodies are all over our social media feeds and it seems they are also changing our definition of 'beauty. That's according to a new study that has found women with toned and muscular physiques are now seen as more attractive than those with slim figures. Research led by Frances Bozsik of the University of Missouri-Kansas City measured perceptions of beauty by showing photographs to 78 female undergraduate students. The photographs were of the winners from the 1999 to 2013 Miss USA beauty pageant - an annual competition where women are believed to be predominately judged on their appearance. Participants of the study were asked to rate the winners according to how muscular, thin and attractive they were. More of the recent winners, the study found, no longer exemplified the body ideal of thinness and had become increasingly muscular over the past 15 years. Publishing the study in the research journal 'Sex Roles', Ms Bozsik said: 'There is a shift in the thin ideal female figure to one that now includes the appearance of physical fitness via muscularity. Ms Bozsik also pointed out that both muscularity and thinness were equally appearing in the bodies of female mainstream media figures...
She noted how social media had created an explosion of 'fitspiration' where the emphasis had turned toward healthy fitness-led content.
Perceptions of the ideal female body can be linked to representations of women in media, whether found in pop culture, fashion or even politics..
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