seek to tan their skin in order to increase their attractiveness to the opposite sex. There is a direct correlation between being tan and self-perceived attractiveness, especially among young women. The relationship between attractiveness and skin colour may also intersect with ethnicity and prior experience. Skin color preferences may shift over time, as in Western culture, where tanned skin used to be associated with the sun-exposed manual labor of the lower-class, but since the mid-20th century it has generally been considered more attractive and healthier than before, with sun tanning becoming fashionable. In the African state of Mali, skin bleaching is common as it is thought to improve one's social standing and attractiveness to the opposite sex, although there has also been vocal opposition to this notion from pop culture icons. Skin radiance or glowing skin may influence perception of beauty and physical attractiveness. Hands Hands have been found to be physically attractive. The type of hands that are physically attractive are those with longer index and ring fingers. Men have a smaller index-to-ring-finger ratio than women. The gender differences in the ratio between the index and ring fingers are said to be influenced by exposure to testosterone within the womb. In a study where participants were shown computer-based images of hands, male participants found feminine hands with a smaller index finger more attractive. Whereas females found masculine hands with a longer ring finger more attractive. The study suggests that finger length has an effect on physical attraction because it gives indication of the desirable sex-hormone dependent traits which one may possess. Another study found that averageness, healthiness of the skin, how fat the hands appear to be, and the grooming of the hands, all effect the attractiveness of hands. What is meant by averageness is the degree to which the hands look like an average of the hands in the population. Average looking hands give an indication of an individual's health (because there are no abnormalities). The healthier looking the skin on the hands, the more attractive they appear. Reasons given for this say skin health may reflect an individual's overall health. Healthy skin can show that someone is free from illness because some illnesses have a bad effect on the look of skin. These features are found attractive because they show that the person has good genes and is therefore a suitable mate to reproduce with. Skin health