to speculate that its use as a sexual selection cue by men has an evolutionary basis. However it is also suggested that the evident relationships between WHR-influencing hormones and survival-relevant traits such as competitiveness and stress tolerance may give a preference for higher waist–hip ratios its own evolutionary benefit. That, in turn, may account for the cross-cultural variation observed in actual average waist–hip ratios and culturally preferred waist-to-hip ratios for women. WHR has been found to be a more efficient predictor of mortality in older people than waist circumference or body mass index (BMI). Bodies as identity Over the past several hundred years, there has been a shift towards viewing the body as part of one's identity – not in a purely physical way, but as a means of deeper self-expression. David Gauntlett, in his 2008 book, recognizes the importance of malleability in physical identity, stating, "the body is the outer expression of our self, to be improved and worked upon". One of the more key factors in creating the desire for a particular body shape – most notably for females – is the media, which has promoted a number of so-called "ideal" body shapes. Fashionable figures are often unattainable for the majority of the population, and their popularity tends to be short-lived due to their arbitrary nature. During the 1950s, the fashion model and celebrity were two separate entities, allowing the body image of the time to be shaped more by television and film rather than high fashion advertisements. While the fashion model of the 1950s, such as Jean Patchett and Dovima, were very thin, the ideal image of beauty was still a larger one. As the fashion houses in the early 1950s still catered to a specific, elite clientele, the image of the fashion model at that time was not as sought after or looked up to as was the image of the celebrity. While the models that graced the covers of Vogue Magazine and Harper's Bazaar in the 1950s were in line with the thin ideal of the day, the most prominent female icon was Marilyn Monroe. Monroe, who was more curvaceous, fell on the opposite end of the feminine ideal spectrum in comparison to high fashion models. Regardless of their sizes, however, both fashion of the time and depictions of Monroe emphasize a smaller waist and fuller bottom half. The late 1950s, however, brought about the