Somebody Shrunk The Men

[onebloodonelife]

Personally, I can't stand the super thin guy look. It's been happening for quite awhile, and I think the modeling industry has just picked up on it, which will make it even more popular. Though, until now, the majority of those stick guys were, I hate to use the terms, "emo" or "scene."

Give me a guy who's lean, like the guy on the left, not someone who's malnourished, like the guy on the right.

Also, I did have a male friend of mine, who in 8th grade (14 or so years old) was diagnosed with anorexia. He wasn't aiming for the stick thin look, but rather the lean, athletic look, and he would run and bike several miles a day and then not eat to achieve it. Luckily, he's much better now and healthy.

 

[Irvine511]

i do think there's pressure on some men in some situations to be waif-like thin, and i do think it has something to do with the "heroin chic" look that has waxed and waned for decades now.

amongst the hipper teenaged crowd, a waif-thin boy might be appealing (especially if he has one of those kind-of-cool shag haircuts) especially if one is cultivating an artsy, edgy look, which is what i think these models and fashion designers are going for.

but i'd maintain that the mainstream male look is of course not having a lot of body fat, but certainly having more muscle than not. as high fashion as these kids seem to be, the mainstream, in my opinion, seems to be much more in the way of an Abercrombie model. both require very little body fat, though, and as men become increasingly sexualized and boys are as marketed to as girls are, i think we can expect to see an uptick in male eating disorders.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Looking at those Phelps pics (not Fred unfortunately but we can dream) made me think that it might be interesting to see photos of what people here think is their "ideal" male and female body types, someone well known/famous who represents that. What you aspire to, are attracted to, think is the most appealing. I wonder how that differs by age and other factors.

By the way is that second guy with the facial hair Michael Phelps too or a different guy?

 

[U2isthebest]

All the guys I've liked in my personal life haven't been quite like these ones, but I'm always attracted to this similar body type. I'll use any excuse I can to post pics. of these men.

 

[anitram]

My thing with both men and women is that I like the toned look. You don't have to look like you live at the gym 7 days a week, but I just hate sloppyness in people in general, so I like the tight look. No waifs on either side - women shouldn't look like a 2x4 and men shouldn't look like pre-pubescent boys. That's just my preference, though. I know people who like totally different body types.

And now I'm off to the gym.

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

All the guys I've liked in my personal life haven't been quite like these ones, but I'm always attracted to this similar body type. I'll use any excuse I can to post pics. of these men.

Johnny, going outside in just a towel and boots.




















Tall, I like 'em tall.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I don't really have an "ideal", I find many things attractive but I don't like overly muscular (like that body builder type, ) or overly thin. If the personality is unattractive everything else is but just for the purposes of the thread

If I had to pick an ideal female it would probably be Halle- curvy and not frail looking. Perfect body in my eyes.

For a guy maybe..he's muscular but not too much and athletic

 

[U2isthebest]

If I could trade bodies with anyone in Hollywood, it would be Catherine Zeta-Jones. She reminds of one the old Hollywood actresses; curvy and glamourous, as opposed to stick-thin and trashy.

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1579719424/nm0001876

 

[A_Wanderer]

Do you believe that to be equally true for men and women, in general, in society at large?

Absolutely not, smart women have lower odds of keeping long term partners, ugly women are going to be judged off the bat.

 

[AttnKleinkind]

I remember a history teacher saying something about how TB was romanticised during the Romantic era, as anorexia is now, because it made you very pale and waif-like. So I guess it was like 'TB chic'. So it's interesting that as odd as it is that this is seen as attractive, but that's it's not really new. I mean, even from an evolutionary standpoint, aren't you supposed to be attracted to someone healthy as opposed to someone who looks sick and is wasting away?

 

[BVS]

I mean, even from an evolutionary standpoint, aren't you supposed to be attracted to someone healthy as opposed to someone who looks sick and is wasting away?

But that alone is a societal thing. I've always been a very skinny person, I gained a little weight towards the end of my college years, both my grandmothers' said things like " you're actually looking healthy", where everyone else admitted I was heavy for my frame.

 

[A_Wanderer]

But societal pressures are acting from biological ones, the cues like good complexion and symmetry are there so we can discriminate fit mates and pass fit traits for future generations (of course symmetry is mostly luck in utero).

The variation in what is sexually attractive can definitely be conditioned culturally, but the commonalities that span cultures can often be placed in an evolutionary perspective. Things like weight are fluctuating indicators of attractiveness, they have changed in time.