Female body shape

Female body shape or female figure is the cumulative product of a woman's skeletal structure and the quantity and distribution of muscle and fat on the body. As with most physical traits, there is a wide range of normality of female body shapes.

Attention has been focused on the female body as a source of aesthetic pleasure, sexual attraction, fertility, and reproduction in most human societies. There are, and have been, wide differences in what should be considered an ideal or preferred body shape, both for attractiveness and for health reasons.

Women's bodies occur in a range of shapes. Female figures are typically narrower at the waist than at the bust and hips. The bust, waist, and hips are called inflection points, and the ratios of their circumferences are used to define basic body shapes.

Physiology

Impact of estrogens

Estrogens have a significant impact on a female's body shape. They are produced in both men and women, but their levels are significantly higher in women, especially in those of reproductive age. Besides other functions, estrogens promote the development of female secondary sexual characteristics, such as breasts and hips. As a result of estrogens, during puberty, girls develop breasts and their hips widen. However, the presence of testosterone in a pubescent female inhibits breast development and promotes muscle development; while estrogens act in the other direction.

Female figure (disambiguation)

Female fini gure is the cumulative product of a woman's skeletal structure and the quantity and distribution of muscle and fat on the body.

Female figure may also refer to:

Female Figure (Giambologna)

Female Figure is a near life-size marble statue by the Flemish sculptor Giambologna. It measures 114.9 cm (45 1/4 in.) and depicts an unidentified woman who may be Bathsheba, Venus or another mythological person. The work dates from 1571–73, very early in the artist's career, and has been held by the J. Paul Getty Museum since 1982. The woman is nude save for a bracelet on her upper left arm and a discarded garment covering her lap. She sits on a column draped with cloths, holding a jar in one hand, drying her left foot with the other. According to the Getty, her complex positioning shows her "bathing in a graceful serpentine pose, characteristic of Mannerist elegance and known as figura serpentinata." Other art historians have described the unusual position as evidencing an "anxious grace".

The work's dating and attribution have been uncertain over the centuries, though it is now confidently associated with Giambologna due to its similarity to several other known works by him, including the Florence Triumphant over Pisa now in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The statue has been restored twice and is in relatively good condition.