A substantial portion of young women in the U.K. would choose breasts over brains, according to a recent online survey.
The U.K. discount website MyVoucherCodes asked 1,100 18-25-year-old women if they would trade their IQ's for bigger breasts. One-third of respondents said they would.
The survey, which was sent to The Huffington Post, also found that 41 percent of women would rather have bigger breasts than a high IQ, and 24 percent of those who preferred bigger breasts said it was because it would make them "feel happier."
In addition, 44 percent of the respondents would rather have a "slim figure" than high intelligence, with 29 percent of those women saying they felt being slim would make them feel "more confident."
The survey also suggests that the women's preferences might have more to do with what they think men value than what they value in themselves.
Fifty-seven percent of the women said they thought men would be "more interested" in them romantically if they had bigger breasts and 59 percent said they thought that, when looking for a relationship, men valued the appearance of a woman more so than her intelligence.
Overall, a whopping 79 percent of women surveyed felt they were judged more by their appearance than by their intelligence.
There were also economic concerns behind many of the women's preferences. The survey found that 49 percent of the respondents believed that being "attractive" would also help a woman in her career.
That assumption is backed up by a survey last year that found thin women make more money than other females.
More broadly, the survey highlights what author Courtney Martin calls "The Frightening New Normalcy of Hating Your Body."
One of the keys to combatting negative body image, Martin writes, is to understand that these issues aren't exclusive to white, upper-class women:
It is our responsibility, and our joy, really, to cut the ribbon on a new future in body image activism—one that is gloriously inclusive and messy, broad in issue and bold in agenda, one that acknowledges our international and economic interconnection.
The MyVoucherCodes survey comes during National Eating Disorder Week, designed to help promote awareness of and resources for "the millions of families whose loved ones are battling eating disorders."
Hat tip: Fark
Also on HuffPost:
Dr. Gregory Jantz, Ph.D.: The Answer Is Pretty Ugly
Dr. Douglas Fields: Is God in the Brain?
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Posted: 03/ 2/2012 11:06 am Updated: 03/ 2/2012 11:06 am