The relationship between attractiveness and femininity in female gait

The evaluation of physical attractiveness has been reported to be related to the psychological process for detecting associated physiological health and fertility features. The femininity of the female gait is also associated with its attractiveness. However, it is unclear whether femininity is always attractive in female gait and what physical characteristics are perceived as being attractive and/or feminine. In this study, we aimed to understand the root of the attractiveness of human movement by examining the relationship between perceived attractiveness and femininity in female gait. First, we created 30 s gait animations by using 3D motion capture data of 10 female nonmodels and seven female runway models, where they walked either barefoot or in high heels. Then, 60 observers evaluated the attractiveness and femininity of each animation. We compared the scores of attractiveness (A-scores) and femininity (F-scores) of the models and nonmodels, and we examined the factors related to the evaluation (A-scores and F-scores), namely, the walkers’ height, weight, BMI, and the characteristics of movements. Consequently, both the A-score and the F-score were high for the models’ gait in high heels. Conversely, in the other conditions, there were two types of attractiveness−femininity relationships—a linear relationship (high A-score and F-score, or low A-score and F-score) and an unequal relationship (high F-score but low A-score). Most physical and motion factors correlated with both the A-score and the F-score; however, BMI, flexibility at the thoracolumbar joint, stride time CV, and toe-off angle were related to either the A-score or the F-score.