I have certainly seen counter-examples, but in general I find that women who have beautiful bodies also have beautiful (at least to me) faces. There have been plenty of times when I have seen a woman from the rear or profile and thought she had a very shapely figure, and most of the time I discovered she also had a very pleasing (again, to me) face. This has always seemed a bit surprising to me, since diet and exercise can give a woman a beautiful body, but won’t do much for her face.
Is this just a coincidence, or have others noticed this as well? And if it’s NOT just a coincidence, any guesses as to the reason?
Assuming it’s not just a coincidence, I offer the following theories:
The same genes that help a woman have a beautiful body also tend to give them attractive faces.
Women who are concerned enough to give themselves a beautiful body through diet and exercise will generally also spend time on their faces (makeup, plastic surgery, etc.)
Contrary to my assumptions, diet and exercise really can improve the way a woman’s face looks. Maybe a “healthy” face just looks beautiful, regardless of what the makeup ads would have women believe.
I’ve heard that facial beauty is a report card for health, in a genetic/evolutionary sence. Of course I can’t find a cite. You do a search on health and beauty!
Sorry, godzillatemple, but I must challenge your premise to some degree.
There have been any number (guessing maybe 30-40%) of the women I see from behind or from some angle so their face isn’t the first thing I see, and whose bodies are in the excellent to fantastic range, whose faces would back a dog off a meat truck.
Works in reverse more often, though: nice face, not so hot bod.
Goes all the way back to school days, too. Some of the best bodies were topped off by Halloween mask faces.
These days, I suspect most of the beauty products can offset a horrld face, and exercise programs (surgery perhaps) can fix a really bad body, so it could just be that the ones I’ve seen and noticed either don’t care or just don’t have mirrors.
I think we’re a lot less picky about faces than bodies, especially for women. As long as the person is youngish and has a reasonably symmetrical face, it is seen as attractive enough, and a little makeup can correct most minor flaws.
Men evaluate the whole package somewhat differently, too, I think. In the recent thread about the most beautiful women in history, it seemed to me that a lot of men nominated current models/actresses who had decent enough faces, but fantastic bodies.
I agree, godzillatemple. I think there is a strong correlation between facial attractiveness and attractivess of the remainder of the body. I can think of two possible explanations for this-
If someone has good genes, this will be reflected in both the face and the rest of their body.
If someone has an unattractive face, there really isn’t much point in heading to the gym every day because they will still be unattractive no matter what. Therefore, facially attractive people will try hard to maintain their overall appearance, and facially unattractive people won’t bother.
I should add that I also believe that there is a correlation between beauty and fashion sense.
If someone has an unattractive face and body, they’ll still be unattractive even if they’re well dressed, so there isn’t much point in doing so. Might as well throw on a pair of sweat pants and some flip-flops and head out the door.
I think that study was biased! They asked men to rate the attractiveness of 92 nude women. Tell me what kinda normal man looks at the face of a naked chick?!
My own personal take on this: in these days of readily available health care, good medicine, etc., most women (indeed most people) are reasonably attractive, whether they have a good body or not. Therefore, if they do have a good body, chances are good that they’ll also be pretty. Course, they’re pretty even if they don’t have a good body, but you’re less likely to notice.
Some of it, too, is probably self-estieem, to wit, a woman who feels good about her body is more likely to wear becming makeup, etc.
I have to disagree…or at least disagree for me personally.
I was working as a waiter in college and waiting on a table of two couples obviously on a date. While roaming my tables I overheard their conversation which was about whether men preferred tits or ass more. While refilling theri water (or something) one of the women looked to me and asked my opinion. “Waiter…what is more important to a guy? Tits or ass?” At this point I did not know who was paying the check and would be tipping me I was uncomfortable taking sides so I answered, “The face.” The guys slowly nodded in agreement and the women bith chimed in with, “Good answer.” IIRC my tip was generous.
After that incident I thought about it and the more I thought about it the more I came to the conclusion it was true. I have seen plenty of women with dynamite bodies but horrid faces and that ruins the whole package for me. On the flip side I have known many women with attractive faces and mediocre bodies and that is much more tolerable to me.
I knew a women in college who was widely regarded as one of the beauties of the campus. I was in her sorority house (legitimately and escorted of course) when I saw her come out of the bathroom wearing only her towel. I was stunned at how awful she looked without her makeup…clearly she had a real talent in the makeup department.
What I mostly want, lookwise in a woman, is someone who doesn’t shock with a Jekyll & Hyde transformation. I want her to look tolerable without her makeup on and with bed-head. I’m not expecting miracles and we all have our grungy times but sometimes I think the whole makeup thing does a disservice as it amounts to something of a lie (i.e. you don’t really look like that).
There’s a mall across the street from where I work, and I regularly go there for lunch. It’s invariably teeming with young women who are scantily dressed.
Quite a few of the ones with great, toned bodies have faces so ugly it hurts my feelings - throwing in the ones who are just plain, I’d say it’s unusual to see one who is actually notably beautiful. I’d say the number of ugly women with great bodies is probably about the same as the number with less great bodies.
Um, yes and no. Attitude is huge when it comes to beauty and sexiness.
To me, beauty starts and ends with the face. It doesn’t have to have “classical” features or conform to the TV version of mainstream beauty. It can be unique, it can be flawed. Beauty is so elusive; ugly can beautiful sometimes.
The body? It can morph yearly or stay the same for a lifetime. It’s not as important as the face. I want to be able to look fondly at the same face for a lifetime. Obviously, initial attraction is important. But with so many variations, sometimes it’s more how a body feels than what it looks like dressed up, on the street. IMHO.
Anyway, I might be least qualified person to answer this question. I think Laura San Giacomo is absolutely gorgeous. My friends say she looks like an Eskimo. I say fine. There are probably a lot of beautiful Inuit (Eskimos)
Sorry, my mind wandered from the original question.
Yes, I have seen beautiful faces, male and female, attached to bodies that are not considered “sexy” by “conventional” standards. Y’all know what I mean.
“Pretty face/average body” is usually more attractive to me than “average face/hot body”.
From what I see, there aren’t many women anymore who have good bodies at all, no matter what their faces look like.
There are basically two types: (1) those who have succeeded in dieting themselves into the “Starving Ethiopian Child” mold, and (2) those who have failed at dieting and consoled themselves by eating everything that didn’t fight back.
I don’t mind a woman who’s a little on the thin side, or a little on the plump side, but this “skeleton or hippo” situation is absurd. We’re not talking about simply “unappealing”, we’re talking about REPULSIVE!
