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The Mysterious Math Behind the Brazilian Butt Lift

Mary Roach

created: Nov. 10, 2025, 11:30 a.m. | updated: Nov. 28, 2025, 9:36 a.m.

It was here, in 1979, that a plastic surgeon, Mario González-Ulloa, first installed a pair of silicone implants designed specifically for the buttocks. In his 2004 paper “What Makes Buttocks Beautiful?” Cuenca-Guerra laid out four characteristics that “determine attractive buttocks” as well as the five types of “defects,” with strategies for correcting each one. I thought it would be interesting to talk to Cuenca-Guerra about the notion of a visually ideal female figure. I found an illustration of the divine proportion on a website called Math Is Fun (and convincing no one). This was the first time I’d seen the divine proportion applied to a leg.

3 months, 3 weeks ago: Science Latest