# Men: do you prefer a good body or a pretty face? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 28, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-a-good-body-or-a-pretty-face/231657 "2004-02-28T20:05:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-a-good-body-or-a-pretty-face/231657/61 "2004-03-02T16:52:33Z")
> [@seaworthy](#): > > …my guy friends in high school used to refer to a girl with a nice body but not-so-nice face- FDIP (face down in pillow). In these parts it’s always been ‘Butter Girl’. i.e. What a body, but her face is killing me. ---
**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-a-good-body-or-a-pretty-face/231657/62 "2004-03-02T19:28:13Z")
Well, I _do_ find a mind to be a woman’s sexiest feature – or the thing that turns me off the most. But given that the OP was face vs. body, I’ll have to go with a beautiful face over a knockout body any day. Whether for casual or long-term, and here’s why. I find a wide variety of shapes and sizes to be extremely sexy for women’s bodies. But it’s most often a killer smile that makes me think, “Wow! I’m sure I was able to speak English (my native language) just fine a minute ago!” 😃 And if she has beautiful eyes in addition to a beautiful smile, I don’t stand a chance. ---
**Author:** ![Thirty-Nine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@Thirty-Nine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thirty-Nine)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-a-good-body-or-a-pretty-face/231657/63 "2004-03-02T21:43:44Z")
My only standard when it comes to bodies is weight. I am rarely attracted to an extremely overweight female. On the other hand, I also find skeletal women less-than-preferable. However, when it comes to the curves, I couldn’t care less. Physically, the face is what does it for me. I’m not necessarily looking for a pretty face, but also a strong face (which usually involves something more distinctive). I do not carry an ideal set of facial features, but I feel that certain features augment each other well. More often than not, these generally occur together naturally anyhow. I have a strong preference for dark haired women, though I’m hardly going to start turning away others. I consider [Audrey Tautou](http://campuscgi.princeton.edu/~bhaskell/node.pl?node=Audrey+Tautou+Pictures) (of Amélie fame) to be the most attractive celebrity, and that’s definitely a facial attraction. Of course, personality will always be the anchor, so it’s: **Proximity** or **Strong/Pretty Face** as the attraction, but **Personality** governs in the long run ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-a-good-body-or-a-pretty-face/231657/64 "2004-03-03T02:33:30Z")
Slight hijack. Many people in this thread seem to assume that “bad body” automatically equals “FAT body”. There other types of “bad bodies” out there. My personal “eeeeuuuuuw I can’t go there” is men who are too skinny. Is it the default to most people that bad body equals fat? ---
**Author:** ![Call\_me\_Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Call\_me\_Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Call_me_Frank)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-a-good-body-or-a-pretty-face/231657/65 "2004-03-03T04:06:47Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > Is it the default to most people that bad body equals fat? I think too fat and too skinny are both equally ‘bad’…as far as a strictly physical appraisal is concerned. It’s just that the former occurs far more frequently than the latter…at least in so far as my experience is with women. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-a-good-body-or-a-pretty-face/231657/66 "2004-03-03T05:30:41Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > Slight hijack. > > Many people in this thread seem to assume that “bad body” automatically equals “FAT body”. > > There other types of “bad bodies” out there. My personal “eeeeuuuuuw I can’t go there” is men who are too skinny. > > Is it the default to most people that bad body equals fat? Hey, watch those skinny guy cracks! To answer your question, I’ll quote _Fox_ News, “we report, you decide” As in [this](http://www.localhost.nl/stuff/images/fat-woman.jpeg) vs. [this](http://www.hilary.com/images/skinny.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-a-good-body-or-a-pretty-face/231657/67 "2004-03-03T06:25:20Z")
JohnBckWLD - We used to call them “butterfaces” (nice body…but her face). ---
**Author:** ![sewalk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@sewalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sewalk)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-a-good-body-or-a-pretty-face/231657/68 "2004-03-03T11:44:50Z")
I think I can honestly say I don’t really care. I was married to a shapely, pretty woman and I was in a long-term relationship with a large woman with a distracting facial feature. Intelligence and personality (or lack thereof) made the first a living hell and the second comfortably blissful. I have found myself being far less judgemental on any standard of appearance. Additionally, appearance is heavily influenced by state of mind and it has been said many times that sex is between the ears. Give me a plain-looking woman with a smile and self-confidence over a lingerie model with a sour disposition any day. ---
**Author:** ![spudzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@spudzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spudzilla)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-a-good-body-or-a-pretty-face/231657/69 "2004-03-03T12:22:24Z")
1a) For a one-night-only, drunken-stupor fling: body 1b) For anything else: face 1. See 1b 2. The “total package” (personality, etc. included) is what makes a person attractive to me, and more of this is revealed through the face and facial expressions than through the body. But a nice body certainly doesn’t hurt! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-a-good-body-or-a-pretty-face/231657/70 "2004-03-04T05:51:25Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > Is it the default to most people that bad body equals fat? Too fat or too skinny for me. ---
**Author:** ![dublos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f08c70/32.png) [@dublos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dublos)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-a-good-body-or-a-pretty-face/231657/71 "2004-03-04T17:42:06Z")
[QUOTE=seaworthy] 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? [QUOTE] A pretty face or beautiful body is only good for the initial impression. I’m personally more drawn to the pretty face. (Of course it really depends on what part of her I’m seeing first… if she’s walking away to me a pretty face isn’t going to get a chance to make an initial impression.) Once she opens her mouth and words start to illuminate what she’s got between her ears… then the exterior just got demoted to second or third priority. ---
**Author:** ![dublos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f08c70/32.png) [@dublos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dublos)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-a-good-body-or-a-pretty-face/231657/72 "2004-03-04T17:49:53Z")
And how exactly did I mess up that bit of coding? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/men-do-you-prefer-a-good-body-or-a-pretty-face/231657.md?page=3)