Someone’s been reading academic journals for the articles! Marginal Revolution draws our attention to an article in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin entitled, no kidding, “Playboy Playmate Curves: Changes in Facial and Body Feature Preferences Across Social and Economic Conditions,” which posits that in lean times, men go for, well, lean women. In other words:”The Environmental Security Hypothesis says that in tough times men will prefer women who are good at production, generally older, taller, heavier, less curvaceous women with less body fat.  In good times, they will prefer women who are good at reproduction, generally younger, shorter, lighter, more curvaceous women.  Pettijohn and and Jungeberg look at the characteristics of playboy playmates from 1960 to 2000 and find:

Consistent with Environmental Security Hypothesis predictions, when social and economic conditions were difficult, older, heavier, taller Playboy Playmates of the Year with larger waists, smaller eyes, larger waist-to-hip ratios, smaller bust-to-waist ratios, and smaller body mass index values were selected. These results suggest that environmental security may influence perceptions and preferences for women with certain body and facial features. 

It’s not a new study, but it does invite speculation about what type of Playmate of the Year a 2009 economy will bring us. If things keep going the way they are now, my money’s on Rosie the Riveter.

It’s not necessarily one of those days, like, say, International Women’s Day, that prompts us to suggest, “Shouldn’t every day be… ?” But today, according to CBS and 1-800-FLOWERS, is Ex Day. (Unlike, say, International Women’s Day, Ex Day does have corporate sponsors.)

Inspired by the new CBS series The Ex List (BG, distracted by Prison Break, Chuck, and Sarah Palin, has been utterly remiss in her field research! Any reviews?), the initiative is designed to “let love bloom again” and “bring new life to past relationships through a special ‘Ex Day’ bouquet.”

From the press release: “According to a recent study by Wakefield Research, 39% of people feel they let ‘the One’ get away, and more than 2 in 5 Americans still have romantic feelings for an ex. Tapping into an American impulse to reconnect with a past love [the French don’t do that?], the Ex Bouquetâ„¢ sends a heartfelt and understated message and can be delivered same day at the click of a mouse, thereby eliminating the stress of an awkward ‘ex encounter.’ [Except for the part where your ex’s new squeeze is sitting at the next desk.] Crafted from fresh carnations, Gerbera daisies, Asiatic lilies, daisy poms and button poms, the aromatic arrangement says, ‘How have you been? Now you are in the awkward position of having to call me to say thanks even though you’ve moved on, leaving me to pick apart your ‘mixed messages’ and in no better a place than where I started‘ in muted green and white hues.”

I never quite understand what’s going on when companies — like Lexus, say — “build their brands” by putting “content” on their websites that has nothing to do with … Lexus. But after watching these geeeeeenius (and BG-relevant!) videos starring Lisa Kudrow, I just don’t care.

Pre-Halloween romance-novel heebies:

If those are his hands, and those are her hands, then WHOSE HAND? IS ON? HER LEG?

Via FailBlog.

Even if we can’t easily verify all the details of the original story, we can be reasonably sure these babes are cooler than Ant-Nellie. (And anything starring Kevin Costner.) From Kate Harding at Broadsheet:

Someone needs to make a movie about Jacquie Davis and Helen Cliffe, like, yesterday. The story of two old friends who happen to be female bodyguards is intriguing enough right there, but better still, they’re wisecracking female bodyguards! Take single mother Cliffe on her work-life balance: “It’s far more stressful than being shot at, sorting out the childcare.” Or former police officer Davis on working for the Saudi royal family: “It’s the same thing every year: you have to be vetted by a guy from the Saudi embassy saying, ‘Oh, my God, you are a woman!’ At which point you have to throw one of his blokes on the floor and stamp on his windpipe to prove you can do the job.”

(more…)

James Gunn’s PG Porn. SFW!

Ending: Meh. Male lead: PRICELESS.

Daily Mail, via Boing Boing:

“A married couple who decided to go their separate ways agreed to divide their home and its contents literally — by sawing the house in half.

One day the house was standing on stilts in a Cambodian village. The next, only half was there.

The wife will keep the half that is standing, while the husband has carried off bits and pieces of the home to put them up in a nearby field.”

Via BuzzFeed. (More here.)

Here’s a sweet New York Times story about Gotham’s storied marriage bureau (locus of Matt Damon’s lowest-of-keys wedding to Sarah Silverman Luciana Bozan).

As the Times reports, the office itself may be heading for an extreme makeover — but it’s still a nice reminder that not all nuptials are extreme weddingpaloozas.

From the blog at RiverfrontTimes.com:

Has this election caused a lot of strife in your relationship?
Lauren: Not really.
Karl: People do take a lot of pictures of us, though.

Seriously: good for them. Just like them!