What are your thoughts about this view of women's sizes?

They all look pretty good to me.

“Proxy Forbidden: Category: Pornography, Extreme”

Wheee I wonder if I get a talking to from Corporate Security now….

In this man’s humble opinion, size 10 is “ideal” but size 12 is very nice as well. See ya….Gary aka wtf

@MrItty

Extreme pornography? LOL. It shows a woman’s butt. That’s about it.

Those pictures confuse me, that size 8 girl looks way too small to be a size 8…are those sizes off? I see in the comments they say you subtract two dress sizes to get the US size.

I think overall, men prefer healthy. Women are ingrained to be as skinny as possible from things like tv and movies, and ads…but in reality, men may like to look at that but I think the majority wants a woman with some curves.
I think the main issue is women being secure with themselves, and not being the type of body that men want. It shouldn’t be about others want, it should be about you and how healthy you are. Being comfortable in your own skin is a thousand times more gratifiying than pleasing society.

Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes.

It’s blocked by my corporation too. @IBERnineD If you post what it says there, those of us who are posting from work would be able to participate in this thread.

Proportion, not size, matters.

It’s blocked because it’s a picture of three naked women, covering their bits with their hands…it’s comparing a size 12-Mens Ideal size 8-Woman’s Ideal size 16-National Average.
someone blogged about the picure, it came from here it’s NSFW though.

I’d love if somebody could PM me an explanation of what the fuck all of the sizes mean. As a guy, all of my clothing numbers are directly related to inches, and S/M/L is explained everywhere in stores. But I’ve never known what women sizes relate to.

To look at? Tillie’s ideal. I won’t lie. But I’m not unattracted to Anna or Caroline. Also, I’m not really going to run into many tan, impeccably-groomed, athletic, skinny women in the world of computers.

It’s really not fair to compare the three with such a photo (Which I don’t believe they’re trying to do here)
Anna’s given a horrible pose (well, at least in my opinion). While Tillie and Caroline are standing front-faced showing us their curves, all we see from Anna is her side and back.
I’m also not a fan of black hair which Anna has.
Also, you can see how confident Tillie is standing there posing. Meanwhile (at least to me), the other two look like they feel awkward, which really isn’t too attractive.

In order for me to really say “I like that size better” I’d have to see 3 girls with the same pose, same hair color/style, who don’t look like they’re uncomfortable posing.

I think what they’re trying to show with this article, is that women who are all worried about getting so goddamn skinny to impress men need to stop, because men fall just fine for women who have some meat on their bones.

I think it’s more or less accurate in general that most American women have an idea they want to be thinner, most American men probably want them to be rounder than the women think they want to be, and that the average American woman’s actual size is greater than both of those.

Clothing sizes though don’t say what a woman looks like, which is what men generally care about, which for the body has much more to do with shape and proportion than it does with size. I think the center model’s body has the best proportions, and the posture, face and proportions of the “men’s ideal” model on the left are not my ideal. We need more pictures to give more male opinions about! ;-)

And, I think this was asked before on Fluther about this same article.

@Sarcasm I’ll PM you, but I swear it’s even confusing for me and I’m a woman.

@Sarcasm It’s particularly confusing when each store/brand has size variations. Something that’s a size 10 J. Crew might be too small for one woman, while a size 10 from Eddie Bauer will fit just fine. I envy my husband’s ability to pick out pants based on waist and leg measurements, especially because my longer than average legs make buying pants a pain in the arse. I’ll look at the link above when I can get my 4 year old to stop following me into the office!

One wonders how much these women have benefited from the judicious application of photoshop? Where’s the cellulite?

Personally, I wouldn’t kick any of them out of bed. If they weren’t wearing anything. There is something so beautiful about an unadorned body. Especially for the young and buff.

This comment written below the photo made my day.

/Math nerd.

Edit: If you don’t know what phi is, then educate yourself here.

I think the larger women are hot. I am indifferent to the middle ones physique.

Alright, so after looking at it on the iPhone, I’d say the middle girl is way too thin. To the point where I already have a negative impression of her, because in my mind, anyone that thin has to work very hard to get and stay that thin, and she therefore cares far too much about image.

I honestly don’t see much of a difference between either of the two women on the left and right. Maybe if they were in the same pose it’d help. But either of them look A-Ok to me. Wouldn’t mind just a touch larger either.

I don’t believe it. The size 8 model, Tillie, is both my ideal and my guy’s. She looks fit, active, and not at all like a bag of bones.
I don’t believe she’s a US size 8 though. She looks much smaller than that. Maybe she’s a high-end designer’s 8, but not an average store’s 8. I usually wear a size 8, and I’m nowhere near that toned and lithe. Even without the size and just the bodies, I think Tillie is the average ideal.
The other two models are lovely and luscious looking, but I can’t imagine they’re the average man’s ideal body type.

Let’s assume it’s true though. Let’s assume that the average man does not see a SI swimsuit model or a VS model as ideal. Where do women get the idea that that body type is the most desirable? Have women fooled each other into thinking a flat stomach and toned arms is what we should aim for?

I’ve seen this photo before; it’s from a UK women’s mag, I just don’t remember which one right now. The sizes listed are those of the UK.

UK 12 = US 8
UK 8 = US 4
UK 16 = US 12

I used to be a US 12, but I’m working my way down to a US 4–6. Right now I’m an US 8–10. I’m not looking to get as thin as the middle woman, who looks to me about a US 2, to be honest. For one thing, I’m not nearly her height. Also, people have to remember that cameras add weight. None of these ladies will look as large in person as they do in the photo.

Whatever your size, just try to be as fit as you can for your health. Someone out there (and someone you will like back) will appreciate your body as it is, if you’re fit.

I’d like to see one of these photo arrays with men! :D

What’s wrong with foursomes?

None of those women are average. They’re all tall for one thing. Plus those photos have been retouched. There’s no way to know what all men want Why does that matter anyway? As long as a woman is proportional, she’ll look good.

I believe women and men both think “Tillie” is the ideal size. Most of my friends are male, date women built more like “Tillie” and they’d think the other two are fat. I’m not surprised by the female’s ideal but I am surprised at the supposed men’s ideal, I don’t believe it because I don’t know any men like that.

It’s hard to take the article seriously since the title talks about “US sizes” but “Tillie” is obviously not a US 8.

The misleading thing is the sizes themselves. All of those women have relatively flat tummies. So the larger dress sizes correspond to chest, hips, etc.

But there are plenty of truly pudgy women who wear the exact same sizes.

So, to my way of thinking, the dress size is not a relevant factor in the desirability equation. I agree with previous quips that proportionality carries much more weight and would further that by including body fat percentage.

Finally, the only two real factors that actually matter are 1) the person’s self-image and 2) how they want to appear for their significant other.

@hungryhungryhortence that you don’t know any men who consider the middle girl too skinny says a lot more about you than it says about men in general.

I forwarded my guy this thread. I liked his response, so here it is. By the way, I disagree with him about a woman of that size absolutely having cellulite.

“Yeah, that is interesting.

I honestly don’t believe that Tillie is not the men’s ideal too, though. Just look at who shows up in Maxim, or my geeky-hot-chick calendar, Penthouse, beer ads, etc – those girls are all, across the board, definitely more like Tillie than Anna.

I like Sarcasm’s answer. I was thinking similar things to a lot of his major points:

* I ignored the size numbers because they mean nothing to me, and I know they vary by brand/location anyway. I just looked at bodies. Women seem to attach quite a bit of meaning & emotion to those size numbers, but men generally don’t even pay attention to them at all.
* Tillie’s definitely hotter than the other two, but if I were single I wouldn’t actually turn down at least a “trial run” with any of the girls, body-wise. :) Face-wise, she’s probably the only one pretty enough to attract my attention in a social setting, though.. which led me to realize that:
* The comparison is totally unfair. I can’t even really see Anna’s body, for one. Tillie’s got a prettier face, more genuine-seeming smile, and slightly better skin tone than the other girls, for another. And she’s in the center, which we associate culturally with leadership and dominance. Everything’s stacked in her favor.

And for what it’s worth, I think the professional-level lighting and/or makeup work all three girls got makes them look quite a bit better than they would in an average real-life situation. Caroline, for instance – her skins looks quite smooth and nice in the photo, but any woman who’s at her weight level is going to have cellulite that will show as little dimples of shadow here and there, in any ordinary lighting.

Finally, a point that nobody’s made so far: that’s all about physical beauty. Which is important, to be sure – especially in our culture – but it’s certainly not the only thing, or even the most important thing. Sense of humor, intelligence, integrity, creativity, generosity, warmth, accomplishments – those things are all very important to men too, when they’re trying to pick a life-mate. Just not so much when they’re trying to find a fuck buddy. :)”

@MrItty: I work with 90% men and most of my longest time friends are men so I’ve seen who they date and marry as well as who the guy friends date and marry. What does that have to do with me? I may pick my friends but I don’t pick my co workers, I’m just observing and relating.

ADD: I ignored the sizes given on the women’s bodies because it doesn’t mean much to anyone, what people look at is body shape more than they contemplate clothing size, weight or texture/tone.

bah yu know i really have no opinion i’d have one but i am quite mental over my figure aswel so i just cant talk

I’m a guy and like the one in the middle best. (But would not turn down any of them. – They all look 24–26 to me. That is a factor too.)

thinking bout it…confidence is attractive with no mistake….perhaps somewhere along the line we mix up weight with confidence and thats where it gets all confusing as you cant buy or controll confidence easily but you can control weight and buy crazy health treatments ..perhaps one is so often substituted for another association has moved stuff a bit

@hungryhungryhortence What you say simply does not make sense. Seeing as the middle-girl is not a normal body type, the only way that “most” of the guys you know date/marry only that type is if most of the women in the world don’t date/marry. That’s simply not true.

Perhaps your powers of perception need an adjustment?

@MrItty: There are way too many fat Americans to the point where a thin person is seen as being thin due to some negligence or self abuse.

There’s a cartoon that was posted a few weeks back in a newspaper my mother clipped that hit the nail on the head: it showed an obese man, woman and child, each with a food item in their hands, all three staring up at a carnival/fair poster that read: “see the fat lady!” thing is, they all look the same now.

Don’t think I don’t get where you’re trying to personally hit me and you’re spot on, I am a thin woman that looks more like “Tillie” than the others but I’m not abnormal, never have been and refuse to buy into the fat is okay BS.

You know, guys can prefer that TIllie chick til they’re blue in the face…but look at the average american woman, a woman with kids, in her late 30s…that body won’t be there forever. Heck, I’m a thin girl, but I know gravity will take over one day…I’m about to have my second child, and my body has changed tremendously since I met my husband when I was 19. Lucky for me, my husband loves the new curves, thinks pregnancy is beautiful, and actually likes me with meat on me Who cares what the body looks like, most people want someone that they want to be around for the rest of their lives, wake up to everyday, and share their secrets with. A body has nothing to do with that. Unrealistic expectations lead to disappointment…and probably loneliness.

@hungryhungryhortence GA

@hungryhungryhortence wow. Self-image problems much? I didn’t know that you were female let alone what you body type is. How the hell would I?

Yes, obesity is rampant. That doesn’t make people who are disgustingly thin suddenly not disgustingly thin.

You seriously think the lady in the middle is disgustingly thin?

No. That is not what I said. I said she is thin. My second statement in the last post was in response to “because so many more people are obese, very thin is better” (yes, paraphrasing).

(by the same logic, why aren’t you asking @hungryhungryhortence if she really thinks the other two women are “fat”?)

< < does not think any of the women pictured are “fat” or “obese”.

They’re simply different in terms of height, width, and depth. As such, each is certainly attractive on those merits, their relative proportions, and general fitness.

BTW, @hungryhungryhortence no where did I say I thought the middle woman was that thin due to “negligence or abuse”. On the contrary, I stated that I thought the only way for her to both be that thin and stay that thin is through a huge amount of effort on her part.

(or, more likely as she’s a model, the efforts of her team of image consultants and personal trainers)

None of them have fat rolls…they’re not obese

@Facade Do you think this woman is obese she has a “fat roll” and has not had children or anything. Apparently a lot of women look like her, according to blogs and comments I’ve read on it.

@MrItty: I don’t think Tillie is “disgustingly” thin, and calling her that is as insensitive as it would be to call one of the others “disgustingly chubby”. And you said that even though you knew you were interacting with a woman who is roughly the same shape as Tillie! Have a little couth, eh?

While most models do have to work hard on staying thin – that’s part of being a model! – many ordinary people stay thin just by eating reasonably well and being reasonably active. Or, like me – I’m a thin guy who’s just naturally been slender my whole life, even when I haven’t been very active. Yeah, it happens. It’s not disgusting or unnatural.

@MrItty: you’re the one who wrote that I should somehow know that most men think the girl in the middle is too skinny. I disagree based on experience only. And why do you think it’s wrong for a person to make efforts to watch their weight and health? I was an athlete for over a decade and though it often hurt and sacrifices of foods were made, I didn’t think there was something wrong or desperate in me for doing that and I still don’t. I will tell you there was a period of about 5yrs where I did gain extra weight and being I’m so very short at 5’2”, every 5lbs looks like 15lbs on a taller person, I was treated horribly (imo) and much prefer kicking my ass into relative firmness instead.

@casheroo She’s not obese but she is over weight. I haven’t seen a stomach like that on a woman who hasn’t had children

@hungryhungryhortence That reminds me of when I was a gymnast. I was super muscular and 100lbs when all the other girls were 70 and 80 lbs (this was 8–10 years ago) Talk about being called fat… and at 5’1 and 145 lbs, every pound I gain, as you said, looks like 5. Sucks.

My girlfriend has a (slightly less bulby) belly like that (casheroo’s pic-link) and i absolutely adore it.
She has had no babies and has a size 38 EU (that would be a size 10 UK and size 8 US).
And i was under the impression that there are more men like me who love it.
It’s a yummy tummy.

I didn’t think the original link was about obesity, none of the woman is obese but the one on the right is like when jello sets in a mold, if it stays that firmness then it’s a shape but it’s just at the point it could all flop.

Oh c’mon now, This woman is “fat”
The woman on the right just a little extra meat

@casheroo: the linked picture of the sitting woman- she’s not fat just flabby paunched.

Regarding the original picture: I think they’re all beautiful. My ideal would be the middle girl and I don’t think she’s too skinny at all. Many people are like that naturally. The women on the left and right are also beautiful and are nowhere close to obese.

By the way: There are plenty of women who are similar to the women on the left and right who don’t have cellulite. I know, because I have a friend that size who has no sign of any dimples or cellulite. Her legs are beautifully toned.

@robmandu: GA

@rebbel: men really liking a little bit of soft tummy spot, that I have heard. A lot.

I totally agree that women usually want to be stick thin! Men don’t want too much on the cushy side, but as you said not a bag of antlers either!

I have thought to myself that I could loose a few pounds every now and then, but it’s never been that big of a deal to me. I enjoy my hourglass shape, and I have met many men who do too.
I don’t think the middle girl is deathly skinny I think she looks great. There are people who are just thin, I had a friend when I was younger who was trying desperately to gain weight and never could. I also have another friend who is small and petite but eats as much as I do. I think body type is body type, and enjoying some one has to do more with who they are then how big they are. Although size is seen first. Preference is just that, preference.

The first answer by Insomnia was spot on I think: “They all look pretty good to me”

As we’ve already said here (and elsewhere), men’s ideal size is significantly curvier than women’s notion of what men like. The problem is usually not the few extra pounds, but a series of other things (and I don’t mean just physical). Confidence has a lot to do with it too.

As far as the particular three models are concerned, all 3 have great bodies as far as I’m concerned, the problem with Anna (at least in this picture) is that her face is not that pretty. I’d actually prefer Caroline (which seems to be the “national average” in that chart). But none of them seems to be extreme. I’ve had a girl that was all bones (my last one was also pretty skinny). Probably a size 4 in that chart. Funnily enough most of my girlfriends were much thinner than average, not out of choice though.

OK, I finally saw the photo and I think they all look fine. The sizes are confusing to me, because the size 12 girl looks bigger than the size 16 girl. I’m sure @aprilsimnel is right about the UK sizes. When I was in college, I wore a size 6 dress. I’m 5’9”, and at that time weighed 130 lbs (ah, the pre-kid days!). Sometimes I had to get a size 8 for the length. Anyway, I was quite thin but not as thin as Tillie. I actually thought the girl on the right was prettiest, but maybe I just have a thing for blondes.

there is such a thing as too skinny. i much prefer women with curves and softness.

i don’t think the middle girl is necessarily too skinny, but she just looks so “typical” i.e. boring. just the typical image we see in magazines, nothing special or unique.

depending on if you are an “ass man” or a “boob man” the girl with the biggest boobs is the “national average” on the left. we don’t have a good view of their bums, but the “men ideal” one on the right has a good looking ba-dunk-a-dunk. yup.

and on that note, i apologize for objectifying these ladies. in truth i would have to know more about their personalities (i swear to god im not lying!) if i were considering sex/dating.

@alive “but she just looks so “typical” i.e. boring. just the typical image we see in magazines, nothing special or unique.”

I agree! I’d rather look at a woman with meat and curves than the standard model body. I don’t see why a man would be attracted to that over the other two.

I still think the two on the outside are hot. The one in the middle has no curves, no definition.

Random thought: Does anyone else distinguish what’s visually pleasing and what’s sexually pleasing (if the wording is off bear with me. I’m medicated)? I find the one in the middle the most visually pleasing because seeing her in a sexy dress would look better than the other two. But the two on the ends are more sexually pleasing to me in the sense that I would rather see them having sex than the slim chick (talking about porn). Like, I’d be completely uninterested.

@Facade yesssss. i was thinking that but didn’t really know how to put it into words

I think men like thinner woman, my man would, but who still have curves. I’m an American 8, wish I was 6, 5’6” and those pictures look like they must have been touched up some. Here’s the thing, being a 14,16, + is not healthy, but it looks normal to most of us.

lol i wear size 7s in womens i like tight pants lol