when I see stick figures and I notice how thin their arms are or the ribs that stick out I just think that they look so hungry. I mean I really just want to sit them down and feed them a grilled cheese sandwhich with tomato soup. My fiance aggrees with me- he likes women that don't like they would break if you hugged them.

I also think there are some celelbrities that are healthy looking. Shakira, for one. She has muscles. I admire that. A lot of men past a certain age are looking for potential babymakers I think. To them a skinny model might not convey that. A slight belly might be far more attractive to them.

I love seeing pictures of models that look more normal. I think its thrilling. I would love to see a model with a wheelchair or a cane. I don't think that is going to happen any time soon either though.

Just a quick note. To the best of my understanding, the thing about Jamie Lee Curtis' "medical condition" is a hoax.
cheerio,
Sue

Also on the Jamie Lee Curtis thing, one of my professors noted it as being true. Who knows?

I've also noticed te Dove and Fruit of the Loom ads but something bothered me. I believe they are retouched big time! Going on memory, it seems that none of the plus sized women had a bit of cellulite or roll anywhere! haha. Just a thought.

I've been struggling with my gym plan because of this topic. I like lifting a lot of weights, especially lower body. However I'm afraid I'm going to end up very muscular looking which as we're discussing, isn't the "in" look. I've actually considered laying off the weights some (not completely), and just focus on losing weight. I think it's pretty safe to say we are all affected in one way or another by the media's image of women's bodies.

My husband and I have been talking about this topic lately. He also doesn't like the very skinny women. Some of his favorites he noted were Anna Kornakova (sp), Tyra Banks, Katherine Heigle, Trish Stratus (a wrestler), and Kelly Carlson (Kimber on Nip/Tuck). While they all have bodies most of us will probably never have... none of them fall under the super thin category.

As for my taste in men...hmm I could go on for awhile. I do like bodybuilders, but only to a certain extent. Not when you can see every vein moving over their muscles. Ew. Most of the celebrities I like tend to be skinny side. Chad Reed (supercross rider, worth looking up), Julian McMahon, Randy Orton (wrestler), James Marsters...all skinny. When my husband saw the list he decided to start cutting instead of bulking. I'm not sure why I like them, maybe because it's something different? Anybodies guess.

Penpal - not only have I noticed skinny celebs are miserable, it's like that in real life too! I was out clubbing with loads of curvy girls, we were all beautiful and haveing a fab time, one supremely skinny girl was standing on the outside, never dancing and looked like someone stole her doughnut! :rofl:

Kyethra, there is a "model" over here in the UK who lost her leg in a Motorcycle accident. she modeled with a false leg and was in numerous sports adverts with a techi titanium bionic type leg for running. She's Heather McCartney :barf: I don't think much of her, since now all she does is simper at Paul's side and well I just don't like her OK? :lol:

just a quick note stacylamert, weights will NOT make you big and muscley. Steriods make you big and muscley and testosterone (which we just don't have enough of to get BIG!) so don't give up the weights!

Originally Posted by stacylambert:
I've also noticed te Dove and Fruit of the Loom ads but something bothered me. I believe they are retouched big time! Going on memory, it seems that none of the plus sized women had a bit of cellulite or roll anywhere! haha. Just a thought.

Oh, I'm sure they are retouching. Even "perfect" models get retouched, whether it be just to remove wrinkles in clothes, make breasts look bigger/perkier, or remove blemishes or shadows from faces. Even those with seemingly perfect figures often have their waists make smaller or curvier. About the cellulite, though--it's actually a genetic thing. Some women really can weigh a LOT and just be fortunate enough to have smooth skin everywhere. This is also why some women can be super-skinny and even have good muscle tone and yet STILL have cellulite on certain parts of their body. Yay for genetics :dizzy:

Also, the Dove ads are for a cream that supposedly reduces/removes cellulite, so of course those models aren't going to have any skin imperfections in the ads or it would look like the product didn't work :p

Originally Posted by 2frustrated:

just a quick note stacylamert, weights will NOT make you big and muscley. Steriods make you big and muscley and testosterone (which we just don't have enough of to get BIG!) so don't give up the weights!

Even Shannon Hartnett looks very feminine to my eye, and she was just banned from the Olympics for steroid use. Don't worry about getting too muscular, unless you are like Jamie Lee :D (just kidding, testicular androgenization won't make you muscular).


Can anyone explain the enormous popularity of the food network's Rachel Ray, if men are supposed to favor thinness? She is short, chunky, and looks like she is drunk most of the time, but since that FHM layout guys have been going nuts over her. Loooking through Men's magazines will probably give a more accurate picture of what men prefer, than the mainstream media.

she's CHUNKY? I can't see any rolls of belly flab on her.. maybe you linked the wrong picture! :dunno:

Originally Posted by RobertW:
Can anyone explain the enormous popularity of the food network's Rachel Ray, if men are supposed to favor thinness? She is short, chunky, and looks like she is drunk most of the time, but since that FHM layout guys have been going nuts over her. Loooking through Men's magazines will probably give a more accurate picture of what men prefer, than the mainstream media.

WOW, I would NEVER refer to her as "chunky"--she looks normally proportioned to me! She's not stick-thin, but she's still traipsing around in tiny little shirts and shorts without any of that dreaded "hangover" or pinched skin :p

Anyway, you do make one good point, and that is that most ads in mainstream magazines are geared toward women. Even in magazines like People, which are not specifically targeted only to women, are filled with ads meant to make WOMEN want to buy/use the products/services. As mentioned, women are competitive, and the super-skinny models make women want to BE super-skinny, and seeing super-skinny models in luxurious or fun or any sort of desirable situation makes women believe that whatever product or service is being advertised will make them as luxurious/fun as that super-skinny model. I think that makes sense :dizzy:

I had to chuckle at how RobertW described Rachel Ray. I don't think she's drunk but she is a bit ditzy (at least according to my husband). She's not fat but doesn't have much of a waist, maybe that is what makes her appear a bit heavy (plus she wears tight tops). My dh thinks she's much more attractive than Giada De Laurentiis, another chef on FoodTV. Gaida is tiny and very pretty. I think a lot of men prefer down to earth "girl next door" types like Rachel who are maybe not perfect, but perhaps more attainable.

I noticed a lot of the female hosts are starting to wear low cut tops lately and my husband and I burst out laughing sometimes because it looks like everything is going to fall out when they are vigorously hacking up vegetables! :lol: It got downright erotic when Gaida squeezed the meat out of some giant italian sausages the other day (the camera lingered in close up for a long time). Oh yes, FoodTV is about more than just cooking!

On the subject of FoodTV peronalities, I think the chef most comfortable in her own skin is Paula Deen and that girl loves to eat - I don't think she's ever made anything without at least a half a pound of butter in it. Paula is what you might politely call "pleasantly plump" but seems to enjoy life to the fullest.

Robert - I think these two women are strong and beautiful. I can't explain why men wouldn't love them.

Originally Posted by penpal:
I think a lot of men prefer down to earth "girl next door" types like Rachel who are maybe not perfect, but perhaps more attainable.

This is a whole additional difference--I think many guys look for girls who seem fun. If there was a hot normal-sized girl who looked depressed and a very skinny girl who looked like she was having the time of her life, I'm guessing more guys would pick the happy chick :p Rachel looks like she's ALWYAS having fun (whether she's drunk or sober, hehe), so I think that's part of her appeal (though I still wouldn't call her chunky ;) ). There's a lot more to attraction than body type.

I just checked out hubby's opinion on this and he says that hot, thin, model types are "too high maintenance" (whatever that means). I guess that makes me very low maintentance indeed! :lol:

More than once I have had female cashiers comment on the cover girls of "Oxygen" magazine when I check out. It is almost always an "ewwww" kind of comment. The last time the models 6 pack abs were what was mentioned, the woman said she thought a woman should have a little belly. Not sure what to make of it, but I think it is a commonly held belief. On a side note, one of my pet peeves are personal comments on the products I buy from people checking me out. I have had cashiers scold me for buying expensive cat food to commenting on how stinky feta cheese is.

Originally Posted by jillybean720:
This is a whole additional difference--I think many guys look for girls who seem fun. If there was a hot normal-sized girl who looked depressed and a very skinny girl who looked like she was having the time of her life, I'm guessing more guys would pick the happy chick :p Rachel looks like she's ALWYAS having fun (whether she's drunk or sober, hehe), so I think that's part of her appeal (though I still wouldn't call her chunky ;) ). There's a lot more to attraction than body type.

Definitely true.

Originally Posted by jillybean720:
[COLOR=indigo]WOW, I would NEVER refer to her as "chunky"--she looks normally proportioned to me!

See, this is what we're talking about. And what a friend and I were talking about not too long ago... men see us differently than we see ourselves. To a lot of guys, Rachel would be considered fat. To us she looks great.

And men go around saying, "Well I don't want a stick-thin woman," yet the women that look "normal" to us are fat to them.

lol

Just like my husband and his friend saying they like women with meat on their bones. But when they look at porn, what do they go for? The women with the perfect bodies.

Men are just silly.