In 1992, researcher Sir Mix-a-Lot released the results of his examination of the human female figure in a study titled "Baby Got Back." Sir Mix-a-Lot concluded that a round and heavy female bottom was of surpreme interest to heterosexual men such as himself.*
But a 2010 study written by Barnaby J. Dixson, now a professor of psychology at the University of Queensland, Australia, and his colleagues suggests that Mix-A-Lot's opinion is not as widely shared as the general public may think.
In their literature review, Dixson and his co-authors discovered that many previous studies tracked the eye movements of men when they saw women. These studies noted when men looked at the breasts, midriff, and hips of women. But the flaw in these studies is that they men looked at women from the front. How would reversing the view impact the male gaze?
In their study, Dixson and his colleagues asked men to look at images of women with a rear view. The researchers collected data on what parts of the female anatomy men initially focused on and which parts their gaze lingered on.
Although Sir Mix-a-Lot may have driven his scientific curiosity at the buttocks, the majority of men participating in this study found the women's midriffs to be of greater interest.
Image: VEVO
*It is, of course, this groundbreaking research that led to Mix-a-Lot gaining his knighthood.