Originally posted by Genghis Juan
vdk:
In the States, women love the muscular guy.
I disagree - I really think it depends.
I think that if given the chance, most women would prefer the swimmer's body. I honestly do, that's just my opinion. I'm not saying that because I don't have the stocky, 'muscles-comin'-out-of-my-azz' build - I could seriously build my body up that much if I chose to do so (I can press 65-70# for many reps on the incline dumbell, so it's not I don't have the ability to get massive if I chose to). It goes beyond that.
I say it because women in the end want a guy who looks good in clothes too (ask them... they will certainly appreciate a man who looks great naked, but they also want him to look sleek and slender in clothes - remember that they like to parade us around too) - it's usually the sleek and lanky types that looking great in designer suits and dress shirts, while the wide, muscular men with enormaous V-shape lats and chunky muscular triceps look like.... cavemen.
It's just aesthetically incoherent with the whole fashion model look. And it's not like it's impossible to become incredibly strong without being muscle-bound like The Rock. Having said that, it is possible to pack some shredded and powerful muscle in a COMPACT frame. I think women dig that the most.
Of course due to cultural reasons women from different countries will find certain looks more appealing. For example, most Asian women find the muscle-bound look repulsive, because they are slender themselves and are used to the bodies of compactly muscular Asian men. Black American women seem to prefer the stocky, super-muscular build, because overall they are on the larger side themselves (no offense). White European women overwhelmingly prefer the lean soccer-player/swimmer build because that's how their cultural aesthetics are - most European cultures do not really emphasize brute power/strength in the mainstream. White American women are a bit overweight (so prefer a large men to make them feel more feminine), and also come from a culture that emphasizes brute size (it's all subliminal, I think.... just look how America emphasizes everything size-wise - like pickup trucks, skyscrapers, even penises!
) - so they prefer more built men.
In addition, there is also a regional difference in America as far as womens' preferneces for male bodies go:
- women in fashion conscious and cutting edge areas like Manhattan in NYC like fashion-model bodies.
- women in urban areas like Spanish Harlem, Brooklyn, Jamaica Plains NYC, etc. like muscular men because it makes them feel protected
- women in Texas like larger men because the culture there emphasizes size and physicality above anything else (yes, even intellectual things, dare I say it.
)
- white women in the backwaters of Orange County, CA like more muscular men because of the whole lower socio-economic/biker/trailer-trash/Hells Angels/West Coast Choppers type of culture, while the white women in more upscale areas of OC Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, etc. like the model build.
....basically, it's a combination of cultural values, socio-economic status, and biology/genetic makeup.