splendid moonlight

They say men are attracted to women with wider hips because it's a sign that the woman is more capable of child-bearing than their "smaller-hipped" counterparts. But according to this maternal and child health nursing book I'm reading,

"Some women look as if they have wide pelvis but, in reality, have only wide iliac crests and a normal or even smaller-than-normal internal ring. Other women appear as if their pelvis will be small because the iliac crests are nonflaring, but the internal pelvis, the part that must be sufficiently large for childbirth, is of average size, allowing them to give birth vaginally without difficulty."

And that, my friends, is why some of the extremely petite women you may have known were able to have a normal (vaginal) delivery. Next time you see a pregnant girl with a small stature, don't automatically think "poor thing!" Hips do lie.