Body shape
The general shape or figure of a person is defined mainly by the molding of skeletal structures, as well as the distribution of muscles and fat.
[1] Skeletal structure grows and changes only up to the point at which a human reaches adulthood and remains essentially the same for the rest of their life.
Due to the action of testosterone, males may develop these facial-bone features during puberty: Because females have around 1/15 (6.67%) the amount of testosterone of a male,[6] the testosterone-dependent features do not develop to the same extent, and female faces are generally more similar to those of pre-pubertal children.
The fascia anatomy of the sides of the sacral diamond area, which regulates its shape and movement, corresponds to the fascial thickenings that are part of the sacral complex of the thoracambular fascia, which surrounds the sacroiliac joints both posterioly and, from the iliolumbar ligaments anteriorly.
Because the female pelvis is flatter, more rounded and proportionally larger, the head of the fetus may pass during childbirth.
[12] The upper limb in females have an outward angulation (carrying angle) at elbow level to accommodate the wider pelvis.
[15] When females reach menopause and the estrogen produced by ovaries declines, fat migrates from their buttocks, hips and thighs to their waists.
[19] Body fat percentage guidelines are higher for females,[20] as this may serve as an energy reserve for pregnancy.
[citation needed] Transgender men and those who begin masculinizing hormone therapy see body fat redistributed within 3–6 months.
[22][23] Inversely, transgender women, or those who begin feminizing hormone therapy, experience the formation of gynoid fat along with natural breast development.
Women's breasts tend to grow larger after menopause, due to increase in fatty deposits caused by decreasing levels of estrogen.
[32] The United Kingdom's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence advises that a person's waist-to-height ratio (WtHR) should not exceed 0.5, and that this rule applies to everyone from the age of five and is irrespective of gender, ethnicity or BMI.
This, however, is now proven to be a misconception; these exercises may change body shape by improving muscle tone but any fat reduction is not specific to the locale.
To be deemed to have an "athletic built"/build[39] is usually a reference to wide shoulders, a muscular upper body and well-developed upper-arm muscles which are all traits closely associated with masculinity, similarly to other specifics of the male sex, like beards.
These traits are seen more sexually attractive to women and also associated with higher intelligence, good leadership qualities and better health.
[40] Classifications of female body sizes are mainly based on the circumference of the bust–waist–hip (BWH), as in 90-60-90 (centimeters) or 36–24–36 (inches) respectively.
