# Straight men & gay women: are hard-bodied or soft-bodied women more beautiful in your eyes? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 14, 2014, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531 "2014-08-14T18:02:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jayrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@jayrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayrey)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/21 "2014-08-14T21:09:38Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Salted caramel frosting is for women and Canadians. StG and I fit at least one of the criteria. Does in have to be both? No, you’d have said “Canadian women,” wouldn’t you? ---
**Author:** ![jayrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@jayrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayrey)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/22 "2014-08-14T21:16:19Z")
Yum, thanks, **Skald**. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/23 "2014-08-14T21:17:19Z")
> [@](#): > > Ignore whether the woman in question is smart or dumb, funny or stoic, conservative or liberal. I can’t do that, because who a person is and how she carries herself matter more to me than your criteria. Is she confident? Is she funny? Is she comfortable in her body? These are what make a person attractive. Some notion of objective attractiveness eludes me. By your criteria only, I’d have to say “I don’t have enough information to know.” ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/24 "2014-08-14T21:17:47Z")
> [@jayrey](#): > > StG and I fit at least one of the criteria. Does in have to be both? No, you’d have said “Canadian women,” wouldn’t you? Thou art correct. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/25 "2014-08-14T21:20:25Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I’ll link to an example of a hard-bodied woman, spoiler-boxing it 'cause it’s not work safe. It’s from DeviantArt, if you care. > > [http://th04.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2012/212/c/f/amelia\_by\_photshopmaniac-d59ay77.png](http://th04.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2012/212/c/f/amelia_by_photshopmaniac-d59ay77.png) Come now, **Skald**! Trying to stack the poll? In the interest of fairness, I offer the following example of a soft-body woman. [I believe it’s safe for work.](http://wallpaperpanda.com/wallpapers/R5c/joj/R5cjojoT8.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/26 "2014-08-14T21:21:47Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Come now, **Skald**! Trying to stack the poll? > > In the interest of fairness, I offer the following example of a soft-body woman. > > [I believe it’s safe for work.](http://wallpaperpanda.com/wallpapers/R5c/joj/R5cjojoT8.jpg) I thought we had an agreement. You would not post pictures of that monstrosity, and in turn I would not feed you to the auks. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/27 "2014-08-14T21:22:18Z")
> [@susan](#): > > I can’t do that, because who a person is and how she carries herself matter more to me than your criteria. Is she confident? Is she funny? Is she comfortable in her body? These are what make a person attractive. Some notion of objective attractiveness eludes me. By your criteria only, I’d have to say “I don’t have enough information to know.” Very good. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/28 "2014-08-14T21:23:20Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > Bisexual, and therefore erased as usual, but there’s room in my bed for both. Would you let them eat crackers in your bed? ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/29 "2014-08-14T21:23:32Z")
> [@susan](#): > > I can’t do that, because who a person is and how she carries herself matter more to me than your criteria. Is she confident? Is she funny? Is she comfortable in her body? These are what make a person attractive. Some notion of objective attractiveness eludes me. By your criteria only, I’d have to say “I don’t have enough information to know.” What if you just saw a picture? Have you never found a person attractive just by seeing a picture? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/30 "2014-08-14T21:28:37Z")
> [@susan](#): > > I can’t do that, because who a person is and how she carries herself matter more to me than your criteria. Is she confident? Is she funny? Is she comfortable in her body? These are what make a person attractive. Some notion of objective attractiveness eludes me. By your criteria only, I’d have to say “I don’t have enough information to know.” I’m sorry, but I think you’re being, ah, deliberately uncooperative here. The question isn’t “Whom would you choose to marry/date/sleep with?” It is “Whom do you prefer to look at?” You can think a woman is good-looking without knowing anything about her personality or mind. And I’d say you can’t discern ANYTHING about her personality from a still photograph. Why yes, I do intend to keep using the accusative/dative/objective/oblique form of the interrogative pronoun, why do you ask? ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/31 "2014-08-14T21:32:44Z")
I’m no damned Canadian. But I’m a woman and I want dark chocolate cake with salted caramel frosting. (I don’t even know if there’s a recipe for such a thing, but it sounds great and Memphis is only a few hours from Nashville. You could have that cake here while it’s still my birthday.) StG ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/32 "2014-08-14T21:35:32Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > I’m no damned Canadian. But I’m a woman and I want dark chocolate cake with salted caramel frosting. (I don’t even know if there’s a recipe for such a thing, but it sounds great and Memphis is only a few hours from Nashville. You could have that cake here while it’s still my birthday.) > > StG 😕 How could there not be such a thing? There’s recipes for dark chocolate cake, and recipes for salted caramel frosting. It’s not like you’re making them in the same bowl at the same time. In fact I can’t see any reason to try to make the frosting except while the cake’s in the oven. ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/33 "2014-08-14T21:42:25Z")
I have a very inclusive range of acceptance, but I do prefer curvy. And by curvy I mean “a few extra pounds” all the way to what a lot of people find “fat” and unattractive. And babes, my number is… heh heh. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/34 "2014-08-14T22:21:16Z")
I voted “Six of one, half a dozen of the other”, but I lean pretty strongly toward soft. It is really more like “nine of one, three of the other”. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/35 "2014-08-14T22:45:40Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I voted “Six of one, half a dozen of the other”, but I lean pretty strongly toward soft. It is really more like “nine of one, three of the other”. Perfectly said. I too like women with luscious curves, but don’t object to slender muscular ones either. Really, my problem is the inverse: would they like me? Edit: salted caramel icing? Intriguing. Yes, I am Canadian, and yes, we say ‘icing’ instead of ‘frosting’. ---
**Author:** ![ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/36 "2014-08-14T23:08:03Z")
Obligitory quote from [Skin Deep](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098343/?ref_=ttqt_qt_tt) "Zach: You see, I truly love women. Barney: Oh, I see. Zach: I love everything about them, Barney. I love the way they feel, the way they smell, most of the time. I have to admit, I don’t like women with long, round toenails. But that is the only abrogation so far. And so far has been quite a while and quite a few. Barney: Oh, that’s true. Zach: I long for a meaningful, monogamous, healthy relationship. And I was sure I had it with Alex, but the truth is, Barney, in the deep dark silence of my considered conscience, where there’s just me and me, the unmitigated truth is, I want it all. Barney: Hey, wanting is okay. Zach: I want a loving, faithful, caring, caretaking wife, and I wanna make love to everything else in long skirts, with bare feet and ripe, juicy mouths. Little boy-girls with small firm breasts and tight asses. Rubensque round women with big Mother Earth breasts and green eyes. God! I could go on and on. Barney: Don’t. I’m getting a hard-on. Zach: Me too. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/37 "2014-08-15T00:02:52Z")
Soft. Definitely. I associate softness with femininity. And _I’m_ the one with the hard body, the last thing I want is to have another hard body pressed against mine. My hardness against her softness is very appealing to me and quite the turn on. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/38 "2014-08-15T00:08:00Z")
Double post. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/39 "2014-08-15T00:17:33Z")
I like a woman with a little meat on her bones. ‘Pleasantly Plump’ for me, please! ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/40 "2014-08-15T01:17:35Z")
Well, which is more beautiful…the [Palace of Fine Arts,](http://blog.sfishome.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/palace-fine-arts.jpg) or the [Fenriskjeften Mountains](http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/041/cache/antarctica-fenriskjeften-crags_4157_600x450.jpg)? Two entirely different kinds of beauty, each with their own places, sets of standards, and applications. Impossible for me to choose, pitting one against another, with any sense of finality—I can only appreciate them as I encounter them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531.md?page=3)