I recall seeing a poll in some stupid women’s magazine (probably Cosmo, Christ I hate it but if I am within 10 feet of it I have to read it) that said men would rather have a woman with a good body than a pretty face. I suppose if you had it your way, they’d probably have both, but if you could only have one or the other, which would it be? I’m looking for a 3 part answer, if you don’t mind- first, which would you prefer for your immediate sexual gratification (I can probably figure that one out on my own) second, which would you prefer in a long-term partner, and third, why?
I personally think the good body thing is stupid (if you’re talking about a relationship and not just a fling) because you can always get a better body (hey, babe, why don’t we join a gym together? I’d love to spend more time with you) but only plastic surgery will give you a pretty face. And when you get old, your body gets nasty, no matter what, but if you start off with a pretty face, you can still be attractive as you age.
Both? I might be superficial for saying this but I can’t get into anyone if I don’t find both their body and their face attractive. It’s pretty much an all or nothing deal to me although getting to know the woman can change my perception of her looks for the better (but not for the worse, oddly).
I admit that I’m more immediately turned on by a good body, but even the best body doesn’t help if the woman in question isn’t interesting or intelligent or captivating or… well, personality counts, is all I’m sayin’. But I’m not a one-night-stand kinda guy, so I couldn’t say personally if a body is all it would take to get me in bed. Hell, I have surgical scars and missing toes at 32, so I can’t complain about a woman’s imperfect body. A beautiful body would catch my eye but it wouldn’t hold it long.
For a long-term relationship, I definitely want someone I can talk to, and that means I have to look at her and make eye contact. A pretty face would therefore be more essential for a real relationship. Happily, intelligence, a good personality and a good outlook helps a great deal to make a woman’s face more appealing. It makes her eyes brighter and her chin firmer and her smile glowier.
I’ve turned away more often from fat girls with pretty faces than I have from the converse. It’s not a conscious rational selection on my part, but somehow just instinctive.
If I were to attempt to explain, I’d say it’s because the overweight body is a signal to me (right or wrong) that the person doesn’t take care of themselves. Furthermore, the slimmer one is more likely to be active and athletic. Also, from a couple of experiences, I suspect an overweight woman is more likely to have an offensive body odor that may present itself at just the wrong time, like on a tour South.
I’ll say mainly face. They have to have a nice body, but from past experiences what I consider nice and what mainstream media and america consider nice differ. I HATE girls who are too skinny. Exposed ribs = bad! Of course, too much extra weigh isn’t good, either, but as said, extra weigh can be lost. And it’s generally harder to convince a skinny girl to fatten up for you
I’ve dated a tall, average weight girl, but she didn’t have a very nice ass, hips considered too wide, and breasts considered to small. I dated a short, pudgy girl, who’s breasts were too big. And most recently I dated a short girl of average everything. And the current girl I’m going after is at the limit of how skinny I accept them, but she is Asian, so it’s not completly her fault. I like variety, I guess
Pretty face over body anyday. Like others have said a person can always lose weight. I use to be very heavy so I’ll date anyone of any size as long as she’s cute with a wacky personality. The current girl that I am seeing is 5’ maybe 95 pounds wet. A little too skinny, but shes great company and has awesome eyes.
I am interpreting the question as being between an average face/stunning body, and an average body/stunning face.
That said: I definitely prefer average face/stunning body. Even for long-term relationships.
I think it’s a very individual thing: I believe people tend to be attracted to qualities they have and are comfortable with, and qualities they don’t have and wish they had. I have always been very fit – I was a competitive bodybuilder back in the day, and while I’m not ugly, I’m not movie-star handsome – so I think such a woman feels more like my match than a really pretty girl with an average body.
While I admit that there are reasons to call such standards shallow, I would reassert that it’s an individual thing:
A girl I dated a few years ago had a striking body: thin and very buxom. While packing for the first trip she made with me to my hometown, she asked if we’d be meeting my mother.
I said yes, and asked why.
She replied that she wanted to know whether she’d be needing her minimizer.
I looked skyward in mock prayer, and uttered, “Thank you God, for giving me a woman who owns a minimizer!”
Similarly to F.U., if it were between bad face/good body and good face/bad body, i’d rather have neither since I just wouldn’t be attracted to them, not even for the short term.
But if it were between average face/good body and good face/average body, I would say that for a short term thing, it would be a tie. In the long run I would go for the good face. That’s because part of a great face is a pretty, natural, joyous smile, which is more often found on girls with nice personalities (there are a few fakers out there, but a lot of the time they have a different smile which is not as pretty…)
I like my women to have at least ONE very good feature. Great legs, a nice bust, long long hair, pretty face, even real nice hands & nails. At least one. Oh, and when you got that one - know it and flaunt it a bit.
When I first meet a women I notice her face AND body. Everything physical I notice. That lasts for all of five minutes. If there isn’t humor and intelligence behind the face she can become UGLY real fast.
The reverse is true too. There are women I know that I would never have thought of as sexy because they are plain looking (as if I’m movie star good looking, HAH) but after I got to know them I would be proud to date them and be seen with them.
I’ve dated some VERY plain looking women that my friends would give me that look of WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SPENDING TIME WITH THEM. After they talk to the women they come up to me and say DAMN, YOUR LUCKY TO HAVE HER.
What are the odds of it actually happening? Pretty long odds, I’d have to guess.
Bodies can stay very attractive. I know a woman in her 50s who has the body of a twenty-something–a rather fit twenty-something. A not-pretty face doesn’t go to hell the way a not-fit body can. Afterall, being fit takes a lot of physical labor, dieting, and time. Of course, a pretty face takes effort to maintain, I’m sure, but I would imagine that a nice body takes more effort as one ages.
Plus, as affection grows toward another, I think the face becomes more attractive than the body. I’ve known quite a few average women who have become beautiful to look at as I’ve gotten to know them better, but they’ve never really gotten better legs in the process.
For these reasons, I don’t think your argument floats. The body thing is not “stupid” as you claim, since you have more to gain and less to loose with someone who has a not-pretty face but a strong workout & diet ethic. If I may put it crudely, do you find it more attractive to hear, “seaworthy’s wife would be really beautiful if it weren’t for the jowels and the triple chin”?
Body. I haven’t seen that many faces that are really offensive, but I have seen many, many bodies that are. And the offensive faces I can think of haven’t generally been attached to great bodies.
Body. If the affection is there and if I am genuinely attracted to a woman’s intellect and personality, then the attraction to the face will follow. Some of the biggest crushes I’ve had have been on women who weren’t immediately attractive, but whose beauty blossomed as I got to know them. The same can’t be said of a nasty butt. Those just seem to never go away.
Plus it is hard to match the pure animal lust that is generated by a great ass. The thought of being able to fuck a hot body seems satisfying in an evolutionarily meaningful way. A pretty face can’t fight off a hungry dingo, or beat the hell out of some other competitor for scarce food, or out run a predator. A beautiful face may inspire great poetry; but, our genes aren’t here to rhyme words, they’re here to be passed on and they need a survivor they can count on, and I feel that hunger at the most basic level of instinctive need. I am a human animal.
I think I covered most of that already. Sorry. Though I will add this one thing. A great face with a bad body is like being really smart and never reading; learning math & science; or studying art, philosophy, or law. To see a great mind be wasted is very unattractive because it could accomplish so much more. Similarly, a pretty face on a bad body is unattractive because it could be the whole package. Most of us never get the opportunity to be the whole package, and to see it wasted is saddening.
(Of course, one of the benefits of being smart is that you can accomplish just as much as Joe Dumb-Ass without any effort. So, it’s not like I can really blame someone with an amazing face for not being in great shape–maybe this person doesn’t want the whole package, but just enough to be comfortable. But my feelings are my feelings and sometimes they just don’t care about logic.)
My choice was average body with a Natalie Portman face against a Natalie Portman body (Star Wars ep. II) with a slightly odd looking face (for whatever reason). I’d probably go with the Natalie Portman face. I feel a little bad breaking a woman down to her body parts, but there you go.
In the end, the winner is the woman who can deal with all my little issues, which is no easy feat.
I think the face always makes most of the difference. For example I was walking down a hall at college and I saw this girl from the back and I thought damn she is pretty hot, but when I saw her face it was a chick from my history class who was, pardon the expression butt-ugly and the face made her completely unattractive to me. Sorry I guess I am a little bit superficial
I have seen people say this in similar threads before, and the only explanation I can think of is that there must be people with much lower standards of “facial beauty” and much higher standards of “body beauty” than my own. You just have to walk down the street to see people with less-than-pretty faces, but I have a hard time thinking what an “offensive body” would be. Offensive body odor, sure, but we’re talking looks here. Have you really seen so many bodies that were so hideous they actually offended you? Were these amputees, burn victims, people with birth defects? Or were they merely flabby, scrawny, or out-of-shape?
Again, I can easily imagine a nasty face (cruel expression, disproportionate features), but to me a “nasty butt” sounds like one that is smelly or unclean. Some butts are firmer or more shapely than others, but I don’t think I’ve seen many people whose butts I would consider truly sub-par.
For my personal preference I have to say the face is more important – that’s what you’re going to be looking at and talking too, after all. The face also helps to express a person’s character, something the butt does not do. I think one “good butt” is pretty much the same as another too, whereas there is a wider variety of “good faces”.
Speaking about myself, I think I have a better body than I do face, and I’d gladly reverse that.
