Why modern women shouldn't want an hourglass figure

This is more politics than science.

From Livescience.com:

An imperfect body might be just what the doctor ordered for women and key to their economic success, an anthropologist now says.

While pop culture seems to worship the hourglass figure for females, with a tiny waist, big [breasts] and curvy hips à la Marilyn Monroe, this may not be optimal, says Elizabeth Cashdan of the University of Utah.

That's because the hormones that make women physically stronger, more competitive and better able to deal with stress also tend to redistribute fat from the hips to the waist.

So in societies and situations where women are under pressure to procure resources and otherwise bring home the bacon, they may be less likely to have the classic hourglass figure, Cashdan hypothesizes in the December issue of the journal Current Anthropology.

Hmm. Judging from this article, it appears that the only data in this study are the compiled numbers of waist-to-hip ratios of women in 33 non-Western and a few Western countries. The rest seems to be speculation and feminist spin, trying to explain why more women have a less-defined waist than not.

The author is theorizing that the more shapely shape, though best for attracting males and presumably good for child-bearing, is not as well adapted for breadwinning or functioning in stressful situations.

Why would that be the case? Mothers know that childbearing and raising families are plenty stressful and require lots of strength. Maybe body type doesn't matter at all.

What might be more useful would be an explanation of why the flat stomach has become the holy grail of womanhood. Just look at those Google ads. They're everywhere.