# What, exactly, is a "dad bod" and why tf are they considered attractive? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 29, 2019, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-dad-bod-and-why-tf-are-they-considered-attractive/839388 "2019-08-29T01:04:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-dad-bod-and-why-tf-are-they-considered-attractive/839388/21 "2019-08-29T02:13:12Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Well, you’ll have to take it up with them. I’ve pretty much exhausted the information I can supply either about my own personal preferences or my reading of the current zeitgeist on this topic. No, no, no, you’ve helped immensely. I’m relieved to know it’s me that had an imprecise understanding of the term. This thread sought to correct that very thing. I’m happy to know “dad bod” doesnt mean what i had thought. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-dad-bod-and-why-tf-are-they-considered-attractive/839388/22 "2019-08-29T02:14:49Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I would certainly not say that. Maybe not as a mainstream meme. But that is exactly what im saying. ETA: would you not agree that “dad bod” _is_ a mainstream meme? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-dad-bod-and-why-tf-are-they-considered-attractive/839388/23 "2019-08-29T02:20:44Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > No, no, no, you’ve helped immensely. I’m relieved to know it’s me that had an imprecise understanding of the term. This thread sought to correct that very thing. I’m happy to know “dad bod” doesnt mean what i had thought. Thank you. You’re very welcome; sorry, didn’t mean to sound like I was flouncing off in a huff. ---
**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 29, 2019, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-dad-bod-and-why-tf-are-they-considered-attractive/839388/24 "2019-08-29T02:22:47Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > But that is exactly what im saying. > > ETA: would you not agree that “dad bod” _is_ a mainstream meme? I guess. I mean, in the sense it’s a term, but I think it’s somewhat tongue-in-cheek. I feel like there has been a mainstream swing towards similar concepts in female attractiveness and standards of beauty, but without there being an equivalent “mom bod” type of hashtag meme. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-dad-bod-and-why-tf-are-they-considered-attractive/839388/25 "2019-08-29T02:26:42Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I guess. I mean, in the sense it’s a term, but I think it’s somewhat tongue-in-cheek. I feel like there has been a mainstream swing towards similar concepts in female attractiveness and standards of beauty, but without there being an equivalent “mom bod” type of hashtag meme. Somewhat. But ive only seen glimpses and whispers of that similarity in female standards of beauty. I’m clearly not the most worldly of people tho haha. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-dad-bod-and-why-tf-are-they-considered-attractive/839388/26 "2019-08-29T02:26:48Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I’ve never witnessed someone swooning over a “dad bod” in the absence of other physically attractive qualities. Like, I’ve only heard people point out celebrity"dad bods"–and those celebrities are all conventionally handsome dudes who at one time had more ripped or sinewy physiques. A person who gushes over the dad bod attached to Leonardo DiCaprio’s head probably wouldn’t do that for some rando, no-name dude. > > I’ve also not encountered anyone elevating a “dad bod” over other bods. Like, I’m not thinking a male stripper with the prototypical dad bod would get more dollar bills thrust into his thong than a more ripped stripper, unless the dad bod stripper had exceptionally sexy dance moves or a big package. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/mG7sHa8lQDk/hqdefault.jpg "Armageddon - bear") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG7sHa8lQDk) Ladies? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-dad-bod-and-why-tf-are-they-considered-attractive/839388/27 "2019-08-29T02:44:36Z")
One last puff on the ol’ zeitgeist pipe: I think it may be that part of what we’re seeing with the “dad bod” concept is a reaction against the current fashion for very sculpted forms of fitness among men. [This article on a critical review of Daniel Craig’s physique as James Bond in _Skyfall_](https://theweek.com/articles/470068/daniel-craigs-james-bond-buff), for example, describes some of those attitudes: > [@](#): > > What he doesn’t like is that this incarnation of Bond, played by 44-year-old Daniel Craig, “ripples with muscles.” Male sex symbols on the silver screen used to win the ladies through their sophistication, “experience, and savoir-faire, not delts and pecs and other such things that any kid can have.” […] > > > [@](#): > > > > That’s why Sean Connery was my kind of Bond. […] Women loved him because he was sophisticated and he could handle a maitre d’ as well as a commie assassin. Western civilization was saved not on account of his pecs but on account of his cleverness and experience. > > […] The column, of course, earned Cohen plenty of ridicule […] He blames the culture, but misses the easier explanation: It’s much easier to look like a superhero today: > > > [@](#): > > > > The male body changed on screen because of steroids. Arnold started it all, essentially requiring men to be as physically ravishing in movies as women generally are. […] Over three decades, the increasingly sophisticated results are everywhere… The [review in question](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/richard-cohen-james-bond-and-the-new-sex-appeal/2012/11/26/098813e6-37f4-11e2-8a97-363b0f9a0ab3_story.html?noredirect=on) is indeed kind of pathetic: > [@](#): > > Maybe the best example of the unmuscled hero is Humphrey Bogart in “Casablanca.” […] > > “There has been a striking change in attitudes toward male body image in the past 30 years,” Harrison Pope, a Harvard psychiatry professor, recently told the New York Times. […] That same Times story reported that 40 percent of middle and high school boys work out with the purpose of “increasing muscle mass.” […] > > This is all very sad news. Every rippling muscle is a book not read, a movie not seen or a conversation not held. But it probably accurately represents an awareness that what is now being called a “dad bod” is not that different from what a lot of heartthrob leading-man movie stars looked like in earlier decades. And there may also be some anxiety among men, particularly older men, that the standards of conventional male attractiveness have been suddenly raised on them. So I can see why it might be considered newsworthy that a significant number of women either (a) still like ordinary non-sculpted male bodies at least as much as the fashionable buff/ripped kind, or (b) are willing to say they do because they think it’s what a lot of men want to hear. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-dad-bod-and-why-tf-are-they-considered-attractive/839388/28 "2019-08-29T02:46:20Z")
I don’t think it’s something that you are supposed to aspire to. I agree with others that it’s a tongue-in-cheek reference to a guy who spends more time these days taking care of the kids than going to the gym. He used to be buff, but now he’s got a “dad bod” - a bit of a belly, less definition in the arms… To the extent that women say they like it, I think it’s a general sense that lots of women do prefer men to be softer than the hard muscle look you find in gyms. Of course, that’s hardly a universal preference. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-dad-bod-and-why-tf-are-they-considered-attractive/839388/29 "2019-08-29T02:47:41Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > [https://youtu.be/mG7sHa8lQDk](https://youtu.be/mG7sHa8lQDk) > > Ladies? That guy looked **very** massive and muscle-y with some torso chunk, AFAICT: think “football player” (US type) rather than “dad bod”. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-dad-bod-and-why-tf-are-they-considered-attractive/839388/30 "2019-08-29T02:49:43Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > This is exactly what i was referring to by “vast excluded middle”. Its not a choice between ripped/muscle-bound and beer belly/dad bod. There is the man who works out 3-4 times a week and makes at least some effort to eat wisely. Are we not of the understanding that notions of beauty and attractiveness are pretty much 100 percent arbitrary, and vary with fashion of the times, environmental and economic factors, culture-specific norms, societal conditioning, and accidents of personal preference? What’s the scientific support for the notion that a person who looks like E works out three times a week and makes an effort to eat wisely is “naturally” more attractive than someone who looks like E never works out and eats whatever is most pleasurable? ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-dad-bod-and-why-tf-are-they-considered-attractive/839388/31 "2019-08-29T04:19:40Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Are we not of the understanding that notions of beauty and attractiveness are pretty much 100 percent arbitrary, and vary with fashion of the times, environmental and economic factors, culture-specific norms, societal conditioning, and accidents of personal preference? I am not of that understanding, no. There’s a reason why we say someone is “classically” good looking - because those same looks can be found in ancient Greek and Roman statues from thousands of years ago. Certain looks may be “in” depending on the time period, but at no point in time would people look at a man with the physique of a Greek statue and say “he’s unattractive.” I would say it’s more like a 50-50 mix of inherently favorable physical characteristics, and fashion (the “arbitrary” part), but not close to 100 percent. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-dad-bod-and-why-tf-are-they-considered-attractive/839388/32 "2019-08-29T05:50:15Z")
Well I don’t know, I’m married for decades, but it seems to me that young women looking for a partner might look at a sculpted gym-toned guy and think, “Nah, he’s probably a vegan. Probably doesn’t eat ice cream. Bet he hasn’t had a brownie in years.” And therefore, if she’s with him, no ice cream, no brownies, vegan food…possibly that green grass juice stuff. Or maybe that he just looks like too high-maintenance. UNLESS, she is also a gym-toned, diet-conscious, super healthy lifestyle type, and then he will look ideal. They can drink their wheat-grass juice together and be smug about how superior their bodies are to the masses. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-dad-bod-and-why-tf-are-they-considered-attractive/839388/33 "2019-08-29T05:53:09Z")
Sean Connery, an actual honest to goodness body builder, who placed third in a Mr Universe contest was not ripped? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-dad-bod-and-why-tf-are-they-considered-attractive/839388/34 "2019-08-29T06:11:00Z")
For most of his life, he wasn’t anywhere near as ripped as actors are now shown. I strongly suspect he didn’t purposefully dehydrate himself before specific takes. And OMG, he has… CHEST HAIR! > [@Moriarty](#): > > I don’t think it’s something that you are supposed to aspire to. Well, yeah. It’s kind of like baldness: I’ve never met a woman who claimed to find shiny domes gorgeous, but I know many who feel a certain tenderness at seeing their man’s crown and knowing that he feels about it the way she feels about her cellulite… (which it turns out a lot of men-who-don’t-work-in-advertising don’t give much of a fuck about). ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-dad-bod-and-why-tf-are-they-considered-attractive/839388/35 "2019-08-29T06:35:56Z")
Dad Bod = Credit Score of 818 Ladies? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-dad-bod-and-why-tf-are-they-considered-attractive/839388/36 "2019-08-29T06:39:07Z")
I think the current exemplary for the mythic “dad bod” is actor David Harbour, specifically in his role as [Sheriff Jim Hopper](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D-p4UDZUEAExOIx.jpg:large) on Stranger Things. A guy who doesn’t work out much, likes to eat and drink, but still someone you want on your side in a fight. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-dad-bod-and-why-tf-are-they-considered-attractive/839388/37 "2019-08-29T08:43:47Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > I don’t think it’s something that you are supposed to aspire to. > > I agree with others that it’s a tongue-in-cheek reference to a guy who spends more time these days taking care of the kids than going to the gym. He used to be buff, but now he’s got a “dad bod” - a bit of a belly, less definition in the arms… when was this mythical time that the average guy was always going to the gym and was “buff” until he had kids? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-dad-bod-and-why-tf-are-they-considered-attractive/839388/38 "2019-08-29T09:31:51Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > I think most people’s perception of “dad bod” would probably fall somwhere in what you’re calling the “excluded middle”. Considering that according to the article I linked to, a lot of people seem to put _Parks and Rec_-era Chris Pratt in the “dad bod” category, you seem to be the one with a rather exaggerated vision for the definition of “dad bod”. His “middle” didn’t seem all that “excluded” in that show > [@Moriarty](#): > > I don’t think [dad bod] something that you are supposed to aspire to. I think that’s the point. To me, “dad bod” is considered attractive because it shows the man is aspiring to more important things than his personal vanity. But dad bod isn’t “fat”. Your still in shape and can run and play golf or chase your kids around. You just aren’t spending all your free time at the gym, watching your diet and so on. Your not Thor, but you’re not Fat Thor either. So…basically “Star Lord”. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-dad-bod-and-why-tf-are-they-considered-attractive/839388/39 "2019-08-29T11:47:00Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > And just because you think your wife and mother of your kids is hot, does not mean “mom bod” has become a sought after quality that other men look for in women in general. Have you never heard of a MILF? Not waxed & sculpted like a photoshopped magazine model, but just confident in general nonetheless. DadBod = DILF. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-dad-bod-and-why-tf-are-they-considered-attractive/839388/40 "2019-08-29T11:47:19Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > I am not of that understanding, no. There’s a reason why we say someone is “classically” good looking - because those same looks can be found in ancient Greek and Roman statues from thousands of years ago. The fact that this standard has a specific name—“classical beauty”—instead of just “beauty” and the fact that it’s explicitly named after an era, the classical period, implies that it’s not a foxed standard . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-dad-bod-and-why-tf-are-they-considered-attractive/839388.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-a-dad-bod-and-why-tf-are-they-considered-attractive/839388.md?page=3)