Male Body Types (Like or Dislike)

wilsoncl6 wrote: »

usmcmp wrote: »

wilsoncl6 wrote: »

The point of the study was to try to understand what women find physically appealing. What I found interesting was the general consensus that was reached between those women that took the survey.

You keep saying "the study". Let's see this study. Was it done in one city? A certain age group? A specific part of a city? Was it in person? Was it a written one? Was it a walk up poll? Were they put into a room? Were they shown men? The same men? Were they shown just celebrities?

All those variables would impact why there could be a consensus.

Exactly, that's why I didn't agree with it. Very unscientific. No information was given on how the survey was conducted other than selected women were shown pictures of males with these certain body types. Who were the women chosen? What were their cultural backgrounds, ethnicities, mental and emotional states, where they currently in a relationship, did they have any bad experiences with men with a certain body type? The pictures shown were of different body types but not taken in exactly the same pose, skin tone, lighting, some had tattoos while others didn't, too many outside factors that weren't or couldn't be adjusted for but it wasn't designed to be scientific, just a random sampling. Forgive me for wanting to see what women thought of the study itself and to get a woman's perspective on it.

lydiakitten wrote: »

Sure, I agree with that somewhat. But... Well, there is a huge gap between worrying about your attractiveness because you are a 300lb couch potato, and worrying on whether your body fat percentage should be 13 or 14. After a certain point and excluding deformities, it really does become a matter of preference rather than some "universal trend of female desire". Both Adrian Brody and Gerard Butler have tons of women who thirst after them, so whichever you resemble, you'll be fine. This is just the same as women worrying about whether they should aim to have Beyonce's body or Adriana Lima's or Kate Moss'... Like, hey, if you even remotely remeble any of these, trust me, you will have your pick of partners, so stop stressing.

wilsoncl6 wrote: »

I guess this might be a bad place to ask since most that are on here are either trying to get fit or are, at some level, interested in fitness but I wanted to get an idea of what women think. I read an article (not completely scientific mind you) that did a short study on what body types that women found more attractive. The general consensus from the group was that women were more attracted to men that were slim while not overly defined (think Brad Pitt in Fight Club) and men that were heavily muscled and defined (think Gerard Butler in 300) were nice to look, or scary in some cases but not particularly attractive. The funny thing is that when men were asked the same questions about what women would find attractive, it was almost the polar opposite, muscular defined fitness model types beat out the slim build guy next door type.

While most guys don't get in shape just to appeal to women, the opinion of women on their physique does matter. I don't fully buy what women are selling as far as their stated opinion on what they find attractive as there are too many variables that go into determining attraction beyond the physical and women may say one thing but act completely differently when given options to chose from. If all things were equal (money, status, power, personality, intellect) would a women chose based solely on physique, a muscled Gerard Butler or a slim Adrien Brody?

Before we get the answers flying, my personal opinion on the matter is that women are more concerned with what's upstairs in the brain case than what's going on below the neck so there is no hard and fast answer. The insecurities, fears and apprehensions of both women and men play a role in the decision. Women think that men that look like they spend too much time on developing their bodies won't have enough time for them or will be too overly self-possessed to have a good solid relationship (possibly but most likely a generalization) and think that men that have some muscle that seems more natural is desirable because it is a reflection of work ethic and not self-absorption. However, in the same vane, women generally want a man that is bigger and taller than them to give them a sense of safety and security so that only leaves a small window for men to fit in, not too small but not too big. Also, how a woman feels about herself plays a significant role in what kind of man she she's her self with, an insecure woman is not going to want an insecure man. Well, enough of my soap box. What are your feelings on the issue?