# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/41 "2014-08-15T01:47:27Z")
I would say I lean toward appreciating the fitter side of the spectrum, but it’s definitely something that can be taken too far. If a little is good, a lot isn’t always better. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/42 "2014-08-15T02:13:53Z")
> [@ryan](#): > > . . . I don’t like women with long, round toenails . . . How can toenails be both long and round? ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/43 "2014-08-15T02:19:54Z")
Boobies are soft. At least the good one are. That’s the way, uh-huh uh-huh, I like them. Uh-huh uh-huh. You have my answer. ---
**Author:** ![manila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@manila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manila)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/44 "2014-08-15T02:56:35Z")
Hard butt, hard abs soft arms … maybe just… Georgia Salpa? Well I can dream ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/45 "2014-08-15T13:30:36Z")
I like athletic builds, but I prefer them to be softer than the example given. (And also not quit so skinny.) I particularly am not a big fan of visible six packs. ---
**Author:** ![Sterling\_Archer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Sterling\_Archer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterling_Archer)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/46 "2014-08-15T15:17:44Z")
Athletic is good, but some softness is required. Bodybuilders and models need not apply. There’s a reason swimsuit models are normally a little heavier than fashion models. The vast majority of guys prefer the swimsuit models. Having nice feminine traits on display always beats a body similar to a prepubescent boy. ---
**Author:** ![Lowdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Lowdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowdown)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/47 "2014-08-15T15:27:06Z")
I once had a blind-date type scenario with a woman who described herself as having an athletic build. It turned out that I was thinking gymnast, and she was thinking defensive lineman. That date was over before it started. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/48 "2014-08-15T15:33:28Z")
I like my women like I like my pasta… _al dente_ ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/49 "2014-08-15T15:57:46Z")
Why am I being limited to six of one and half dozen of the other? [I could love about a million girls.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM7pAaJjysM) ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/50 "2014-08-15T23:27:26Z")
Remember that old question “Ginger or Mary Ann?” Well, for _Buffy_’s lesbian fans the equivalent question would be “Tara or Kennedy?” IMHO, hard-bodied Kennedy was \*incredibly \*smokin hot. But I would still go for soft-bodied Tara 5 times out of 5. ---
**Author:** ![Astraea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3e96dc/32.png) [@Astraea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astraea)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/51 "2014-08-16T04:06:44Z")
Umm, you left out my group, Bisexual women so I just voted as a lesbian. I love either hard or soft bodied women. There’s just something so female about curves and soft skin. I’m currently crushing pretty hard on a lady of the “softer persuasion” but hard bodies get the old eyeball to. ---
**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 16, 2014, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/52 "2014-08-16T15:43:00Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Remember that old question “Ginger or Mary Ann?” Well, for _Buffy_’s lesbian fans the equivalent question would be “Tara or Kennedy?” > > IMHO, hard-bodied Kennedy was \*incredibly \*smokin hot. > But I would still go for soft-bodied Tara 5 times out of 5. But Kennedy was a horrible person, while Tara was a wonderful one who only died because Joss Whedon is a sick, sick man. Somebody remind me to send a slapbot after him. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_a\_Platypus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Not\_a\_Platypus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_a_Platypus)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/53 "2014-08-16T20:19:11Z")
I like both quite a bit, but I guess my ideal would be a lady with muscle mass but a little softness to her. A lot of volleyball players seem to fall into that category, if you want some kind of example. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/54 "2014-08-16T20:24:37Z")
I said six of one, half dozen of the other. Six soft-bodied woman and a half dozen hardbodies? Sure! ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/55 "2014-08-16T20:38:39Z")
I picked "soft, but with one caveat: While most female athletes’ physiques are too lean and rangy for my taste, competitive swimmers are almost uniformly **smokin’** hot. I guess the muscles developed by swimming accentuate curves instead of eliminating them. It’s a pity that news photos of the Olympic swimmers almost all have them underwater below the shoulders. Maybe that’s deliberate to discourage perverts like me. Heh. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/56 "2014-08-16T20:43:50Z")
The closest option for me is the six of one, half-dozen of the other, but really, I’d prefer somewhere in between. I like some fitness on women, but a visible six-pack is going too far. No reason you can’t have curves on top of muscles, is there? ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/57 "2014-08-17T10:46:15Z")
The only 6 pack pictures I’ve ever seen are of women who are also ‘stripped’ – no body fat, diet pills, speed. Which I don’t find particularly attractive. But y’know, on the upper arms, your arm either flabs down beneath, or mounds up above, and a woman who has done a little physical excercise maintains a better shape. Also, dare I say it, it is widely accepted that professional dancers have nice legs. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/58 "2014-08-17T14:59:15Z")
Straight guy here. I prefer ladies who work out. Not necessarily body-builder types, but athletic, well-toned, healthy-looking ladies. However, I’ve also been attracted to some that were not so toned, but they still looked pretty durn good. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/59 "2014-08-17T17:42:17Z")
Hard-bodied women can be like riding a bicycle over a cobblestone street. Give me a woman with some curves any day. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straight-men-gay-women-are-hard-bodied-or-soft-bodied-women-more-beautiful-in-your-eyes/695531/60 "2014-08-17T17:48:44Z")
I have no preference. Both are nice. Variety, spice of life, and all that. (Although my days of variety are behind me.) [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=2) [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=4)