Summary: <p>Why do women wear make up? I interview Alex Jones of Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania about his new research into cosmetics and 'facial contrast' (follow <a href="http://www.twitter.com/alexjonesphd">@AlexJonesPHD</a> on Twitter). Also, how did <a href="http://www.theloop.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/ursula-the-little-mermaid-break-the-internet.jpg">Kim Kardashian break the Internet</a>? Was it her massive bum, or the pronounced curvature of her lower back?</p><p><audio><br> </audio><br> </p><p><a href="http://archive.org/download/pap-2015-03-24/pap-2015-03-24.mp3">Download the MP3</a></p><p><b>Rate me!</b><br> Rate, review, or listen <a href="http://www.robertburriss.com/itunes">in iTunes</a> or <a href="http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=63199&refid=stpr">in Stitcher.</a><br> </p><p><b>Read the transcript!</b><br> <a href="https://medium.com/@RobertBurriss/how-kim-kardashian-s-curvy-back-broke-the-internet-55e880bf1d08">How Kim Kardashian’s Curvy Back Broke the Internet.</a><br> </p><p><img src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9gMqnCyHIxs/WhHrb3tYpmI/AAAAAAAACQA/VsvA9YZU8TcVBu2Oyh2x_HeED2BRud42wCLcBGAs/s1600/blacklipstick.jpg"><br> </p><p><i>Why do women wear make up? I interview Alex Jones of Gettysburg College PA about his new research that suggests make up works by enhancing female-typical 'facial contrast'.</i></p><p><b>The articles covered in the show</b></p><p>Jones, A. L. (2015). Cosmetics alter biologically-based factors of beauty: evidence from facial contrast. <span style="font-style: italic;">Evolutionary Psychology, 13</span>(1), 210-229. <a href="http://www.epjournal.net/articles/cosmetics-alter-biologically-based-factors-of-beauty-evidence-from-facial-contrast/">Read summary</a></p><p>Jones, A. L., & Kramer, R. S. S. (2015). Facial cosmetics have little effect on attractiveness judgments compared with identity. <span style="font-style: italic;">Perception, 44</span>, 79-86. <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1068/p7904">Read summary</a></p><p>Lewis, D. M. G., Russell, E. M., Al-Shawaf, L., & Buss, D. M. (in press). Lumbar curvature: A novel evolved standard of attractiveness. <span style="font-style: italic;">Evolution and Human Behavior</span>. <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2015.01.007">Read summary</a></p><p><b>The images Alex and I mentioned in the show</b></p><img border="0" width="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5CQjAxUyyrw/VQCWXXfKItI/AAAAAAAABew/EpvLaJRArGk/s1600/illusionofsex.gif"><br> <p><i>Richard Russell's "The Illusion of Sex" placed third in the 2009 Illusion of the Year Contest. Most people perceive the face on the left as female, and the face on the right as male. In fact, the photographs show the same face (a computer-generated androgynous face): the only difference is that the contrast of the face on the left is higher than the that of the face on the right. The effect is so strong, it is difficult not to see a woman and a man.</i></p><img border="0" width="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Qg9F074Txds/VQCXl-W-rgI/AAAAAAAABew/YSxxivh6R0k/s1600/jonesfig.png"><br> <p><i>A figure from Alex's paper. The white lines encircle the 'features' (eye, eyebrow, and mouth) and the black lines the surrounding areas. It was the contrast between the features and the surrounding skin that Alex measured. He confirmed that facial contrast is higher in women than in men. His other research showed that women exaggerate these sex differences with make up.</i></p><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pkpMm3tla1g/VQdsYdJjRbI/AAAAAAAABew/iPzy-hcVpaE/s1600/lumbar.png"><br> <p><i><br> This figure is from the Lewis paper, and shows how he manipulated back curvature. Men preferred a curvature of around 45 degrees. Listen in to find out why.</i></p>
