Good morning!
(One of my favorite Sadie pictures of all time.)
I hope your Thursday is going well so far. Ryan and I were talking yesterday about how long this week has seemed. For some reason we feel like we’ve lived 1,000 days in the past four days of the week.
I guess moving and unpacking will do that to ya!
Breakfast
Yesterday’s lunch apparently sparked a chocolaty smoothie craving in me, so I listened and blended up a chocolate coconut banana smoothie bowl.
In the mix:
- 1 1/4 c. almond milk
- 1 frozen banana
- 1/2 c. frozen strawberries
- 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
- 1 1/2 tbsp. cocoa powder
- 1 tsp. xanthan gum
- 1 tsp. coconut extract
- 1 large handful fresh spinach
The coconut extract really amped up the flavor of this smoothie bowl. I am a coconut lovah!
Men Prefer…
On the way to the gym on Monday, Ryan and I heard about a recent UK study conducted to discover which physical features men found most attractive in women.
Approximately 60 percent of the 2,000 men polled said they preferred women with darker hair (33.1 percent chose brown hair and 28.6 selected black hair). Blonde hair received 29.5 percent of the votes with redheads receiving 8.8 percent of the votes.
The study also surveyed men about the size of women they prefer. According to the Huffington Post’s conversion from UK sizes to US sizes, “38.8 percent of men actually favor a pretty average girl — about a size 8 or 10. Only ten percent of British males find a size 2 or size 4 woman most attractive.”
(I loved this comment on the Huffington Post’s summary of the survey: “We like all women. Period. Let’s be honest.”) 
The results of the size preference of women that men preferred reinforced a thought I’ve had for the longest time… I think most women feel like they have to be skinny for other women.
Whenever I point out a celebrity or a girl I think has an amazing body to Ryan (um, Carrie Underwood!) his reply is almost always “she’s too scrawny.” The boy likes a booty!
Questions of the Morning
- What do you think about this survey? Were you surprised about the hair color or size preferences? Disgusted a survey like this was even conducted? Share!
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I think the survey is probably fairly accurate…
Good thing I plan on going brunette again in the next few weeks…and that curvy thing? I got one heck of a curve in my mid-region 😉
I totally agree 100%! Women try to look good for other women…whether it’s their physical appearance or fashion trends, etc. I have a big booty as well and I remember when I lost a bit of weight my boyfriend at the time said to me, “just don’t lose that booty!”. I think it’s funny too because for the longest time i admired Kelly Ripa’s physique and how muscular she is, but every guy I’ve ever mentioned that too said she looks like a little boy. I think if we can learn anything from Kim Kardashian it’s to embrace our curves!!!!
My BF says the exact same thing! He thinks Angelina Jolie is “gross” b/c she’s too skinny. I wouldn’t go that far, but it’s nice to hear, haha!
I’m surprised about men preferring brunettes!
Definitely not surprised by the size thing. Men are not giving women body-images issues!!
I am happier being a little bigger. It helps that running gives me kickass leg muscles. I could use a little in the booty department though – care to share?
Good answer husband, good answer! …My husband tells me how beautiful I am and that he loves ME! ….that Sadie picture is SOooooo cute! LOVE IT!
I loved this post!!! And i completely agree..I think women try to look good and dress fashionable definitely for other women. Men like the curves!! Soo good to hear!! =)
I’m a blonde with a booty & muscular legs which I am still slightly insecure of, but any guy I’ve ever dated has told me how amazing my legs are.
I just wish I was more well-endowed in the boob department! (34 AA!!!!)
Sadly, some men are quite shallow when it comes to that & it does make me feel less feminine.
i feel ya on the booty + no boobs combo, girl!
ditto here! and i completely agree about women dressing for other women…. i feel a lot more confident about myself if i’m not surrounded by gorgeous women, so i tend to compensate by trying to dress up or wear make up, etc…
I totally agree..I love reading this blog cause it gives me healthy ideas, but it also just makes me happy. I have tried for many many years to loose the weight I gained over the last 10 years. I dropped about 60lbs after H.S. but gained it all back over the last 10 years..not good. My boyfriend who is amazing always say show hot I am and everytime I point out a girl I think is attractive he always says NO WAY she’s too skinny!!! It used to upset me cause that meant he didn’t like skinny making me think well then i guess I’m fat. But not the case..yes i need to lose at least 15lbs just for health reasons, I think my boyfriend truely loves my curves and the way I look, I wish I could see what he see’s all the time. Before my boyfriend I did try to lose weight to make myself feel better and also to be what I thought was attractive to men, but I do think its almost more for other women. Which is just crazy! Thanks for your blog. I love it!
Well hot damn, no wonder I can’t get a date! No curves and strawberry-blonde hair!! Haha but that’s very true about being skinny for other women! Guys don’t care about super skinny girls!
Well, considering there are more brunettes and black-haired women on this planet (by a large margin) over blondes and redheads, the results in that category don’t surprise me at all. The UK is a cultural melting pot, not unlike the US, so your “ideal” woman can vary a lot.
I think you’re right about women being skinny and dressing up/getting made up for other women. For example, I have freckles, which a lot of women try to cover up, but I embrace mine and let ’em show, because every boyfriend I ever had thought they were adorable!
Iin my experience, guys just don’t pay that much attention to the details of appearance. If you look relatively put together with clean clothes, a man somewhere will find you attractive, regardless of your pant size, and whether you had a blow out at the salon.
But like I said, guys don’t pay much attention to details, so I’m not sure that the size 8-10 preference means much. My husband couldn’t guess my clothing size if his life depended on it. When I was a size 8/10, I had plenty of visible muffin top and a double chin (I’m short), so I doubt that he would necessarily prefer that over my current, more fit physique. 🙂
I think you hit the nail on the head when you said girls feel like they need to be skinny for other GIRLS. it becomes more of a competitive thing than anything else! quite sad, because us girls should support each other and encourage each other to be strong and healthy, not skinny and deprived. guys definitely like curves– they don’t have any, so it’s fascinating to them! 🙂
*We girls…sorry, i’m a grammar nazi
Hmmm. I get the feeling that surveys like this are done ALL THE TIME! (at least according to cosmo, and HP, and redbook, and Newsweek [ok, maybe not newsweek]).
The changes in what men and women prefer are always (literally ALWAYS) changing. The sexiest dudes used to be foppish dandies that had enough belly to fill with jelly, santa style, because that meant they were rich and the gold-digging ladies of yore felt provided for… fast forward to Twiggy, proving that girls who look like boys are what girls think boys want. Hmm…. And now, you have sex symbols everywhere from the bootylicious to the skinny slinksters.
No matter what, I have to think that there’s someone out there who “prefers” every single body type imaginable. And even though “that person” may not be “the majority of the UK men polled” , there’s someone out there who thinks you look like the most gorgeous thing to grace this good earth.
Haha Katie your above comment made me laugh, your too funny! But when I read the title of this post Kim kardashian instantly hit my mind (actually all the Kardashian sisters). Dark hair and curvey, that is pretty much their forte!
I think surveys like this are all in good fun and definitely entertaining for all of us!
This is so very true. I was always hating on my butt. When my now husband and I started dating, he said one of my my best physical attribute is my booty. After all those years worrying, it turned out to be a attraction!
I am a little surpised at these findings. I always feel men prefer a smaller, more ‘fit’ type of girl. But it’s nice to know that truly every woman, regardless of size, is considered to be attractive in a man’s eyes! PS-Love that quote, too!
LOVE LOVE LOVE this article!!
I wonder how many of us (girls) hear our significant other tell us that “curvy” is what they want and yet we’re still convinced they’d rather have a size 0? We are definitely our own worst critics.
I would be interested to hear what American men would say in a survey like this. I think people in Europe are less concerned with appearance than their American counterparts. Although, I do think they would agree with the big booty part. 🙂
I’m kind of disgusted by this study and their publication of it. Who cares? So does that mean the women who don’t have dark hair will go and get it colored just to please a man? What about women who are naturally thin who can’t gain weight? They are less attractive to men? I just think a study like this feeds into women’s obsessions with their looks. Let’s do a survey on personality instead. Because everyones hair is going to turn gray and body parts are going to sag, so if you can’t have a conversation with your partner when you’re 80, then these findings don’t matter.
🙂
HA – this is so true. My husband and I have had this conversation many times as well (he’s bugging me lately to add a few pounds since I’ve lost a bit while training for a half marathon)
His “dream girl” is Scarlett Johansson – whom definitely rocks her curves – love that.
I think you said it perfectly – women workout, dress up, and put on makeup for each other. Because let’s face it – men don’t care which chunky necklace you wear or what color your toenails are. What an interesting study and you brought up a great point!
I love that picture of Sadie!!! She is too cute for words.
Interesting survey! I can see how those results came about, but in my experience and opinion, men are not attracted to any certain body traits as much as they are attracted to confidence. It just may be that the girls who are constantly worried about calories and looking thin enough don’t carry themselves as confidently as the girls who just *know* they’re sexy without obsessing, regardless of whether their thighs touch or whether they ate a big dinner. Just a thought. I think it’s silly to identify the “size” that men prefer, as women wearing the same size can look totally different. I am definitely not stick thin by any means, but I have always worn smaller sizes and know for a fact that I would not look good as a size 8 – 10, whereas some women look amazing at that size and would not look healthy as a size 0 – 2. I know my husband prefers the “athletic” look, as long as it’s athletic with a booty. 😉 Thankfully, that is my body type!
As for the hair color, that makes sense to me, since brunettes make up a larger percentage of the population than the other hair colors (at least in the U.S. and probably Great Britain). I’m blonde myself so I think I’m more apt to “relate” to other blondes and think they’re more attractive, but I know that the majority of mine and my husband’s male friends have brunette wives or girlfriends, which tells you something.
As a brunette, I always feel like men prefer blondes! Except my husband, who is tall dark and handsome, and obviously likes brunettes too 🙂
SO true!!
Every single time I point out an attractive girl to my boyfriend, he never fails to remind me that he thinks they are too skinny and doesn’t find them attractive.
I feel like studies like this though are kind of counterproductive as far as regarding esteem issues in women, you know? I think vanity has become so blown out of proportion for a lot of women. We all struggle with trying to feel beautiful and trying to be attractive to the opposite sex. In reality, we should all be focusing on other aspects of our life too, including how to be at our healthiest and feed our minds and bodies with only things that are good for them.
this can be a really touchy feely subject specially when so many woman are self concious of their appearance. I agree for the most part though about a woman being a woman. Of course there has to be physical attraction as well in the beginning, but it isn’t the physical attraction that makes a relationship last.
I love that you said that! My bf says that same thing. Unfortunately, I think women put most of the pressure on each other. I think men care more about finding a strong, confident woman than one who is overly insecure with rock hard abs. Look at Christina Hendricks from Mad Men – so curvy and confident and every guy I know who watches the show thinks she’s smokin’.
My husband Tyler was telling me about this survery last week too! I guess he heard it on the radio. He came home and asked me what size I am and I said “well it fluctuates but usually a 6 or an 8” and he smiled big and said “Well it looks like I hit the Jackpot!!”
When I asked him to explain what the hell he was talking about he explained that he heard this survery where most men polled prefer a size 8 (to 10) brunette… which I happen to be, it made me laugh. I already know my hubby finds me attractive but it was cute to see him all excited.
I think this survery is a good thing actually… it shows women that being a size 8-10 isn’t the end of the world!
I think there is far too much pressure on girls to be a size 2… size 8 is more of a “real woman”
aw, your hubby sounds like a gem!
He is <3
I totally agree with this survey and Ryan’s comments! I think girls treat how they look in comparison to other girls like a competition. “Does she look better in that dress than me?” or “Am I skinnier than her?”
I think that guys like a girl who is confident in her own skin.
I’m diggin’ the results of this survey! Who’s ready for a slice of cake?!?!?!?
Gotta love a man who loves booty, and a man with some booty himself! I’m not talking Buns of Steel, but a nice firm bum on a man is a good thing for me!
I’m likely partial to this survey as well since I’m a brunette and not a size 0! And can I get a woop-woop for those out there sporting a curvy yoga booty?!?!
I am somewhat skeptical of the survey result because it’s the U.K. Maybe they like their women a little sturdier since it’s colder? But I will say – I lived in Thailand for 2 years, and Thai men like their women to be size 0 with pale skin and a completely flat backside. The girls who we thought were the prettiest weren’t preferred there because they were too tan or curvy. But luckily, people’s tastes vary, and that’s good since women are all different too.
That’s a reassuring post! I’m getting tired of all this sort of social dictature that says you have to look great, thin, have long hair, big boobs etc. Why don’t we just enjoy people just the way they are?
It seems as if a lot of men prefer curvy figures over skinny ones. To me, the skinny, model-esque figures seem to be something that most women try to achieve and what we are led to believe (magazines, movies, media, etc) are the “ideal” body types. This doesn’t ring true for men though. My younger brothers practically ogle Shakira and Kim Kardashian; an ex boyfriend raved about how attractive Vida Guerra was (she’s quite a bit of weight recently, but is most known for her bodacious booty, ha) and my current boyfriend made the same comment your husband did about a model or actress I pointed out as having a great figure. Also, a few male friends of mine actually pointed out how they liked that I had some muscle on me and could tell I worked out. I thought I was a tad bit too muscular at the time (??) but they praised me for it. It’s funny how different women and men think about physical appearances. If only more women could think like a man! In the physical appearance aspect of things that is. 😉
oops, I meant she’s lost quite a bit of weight recently.
True, but we also studied this is phych. Most of the men tested claimed to like “normal sized” women with medium boobs/butt, but when presented with a test always picked the teeny little model or the one with the huge fake rack. Makes me curious
as a tall, sort of skinny brunette, I hope it’s at least half true! JK, I think men like bodies with lady parts. Well, 90% of men. The other 10% like boys. Altogether awesome for a different reason.
I’ve always said that when I go out or get ready for a nice event I’m always doing it to impress the other women I will see, NOT the men. Strange how we do things like that!!
I’m sad to hear that men prefer darker hair, only because I’m a blonde 😉 As long as my boyfriend likes my haircolor I guess that’s all that matters!
It is true — while guys still want you to look fit they don’t find tiny waifs attractive… yet all we see on TV and magazines makes us feel like a size 0 is sexy. Although, I wonder what size ‘8’ they used in the survey… because I just read an article the other day saying how a size 8 now would’ve been a size 14 a few decades ago and that clothing companies have altered their sizing charts to make women feel better about the clothes they’re buying?
P.S. I’ve ALWAYS wanted to be brunette… but I’m a natural blonde and have been too scared to dye it dark. Plus everyone says it just fits my personality (not sure what they mean by that LOL)
I’m not surprised by those results, because I think you’re right. Women do want to be thin because it’s become the “thing” to be that way.
Women are made to have babies and men are wired to make them. Biologically, curviness signals that a woman is fertile, so it’s only natural that men would be attracted to that shape.
Even with the survey, women who are “scrawny” shouldn’t be ashamed in any way of their bodies or that they’re less attractive. Or that it makes them less of a woman! It actually bothers me when people say that “real” women should have curves – this is further reinforcing a belief that women should look a certain way. People come in all shapes and sizes, and accepting that is what ‘s really important here.
Sadie is super adorable – but then you didn’t need the reminder 😛
It’s so true. I think Christina Hendrics from Mad Med was voted sexiest women according to GQ, and she’s a proud size 12!
Haha! This resonates with me because out of nowhere, my boyfriend once mentioned he doesn’t find extremely skinny arms attractive on a girl. I’ve always envied women with really skinny arms! Mine are very muscular. I think men have a completely different definition of beauty than women do – as in, they barely overlap even a little – we’re speaking two different languages!
Pretty sure girls are trying to out do other women…..men just want a woman who loves them and is attractive to THEM. Each man wants something different, for sure!
I am glad my husband totally adores me 🙂 I think it is pointless to try and ‘be skinny’ for other women….it is totally unhealthy and really selfish, actually.
Love that I have something of a booty. Hah 🙂
Studies like this don’t really impact me either way. I am only one woman and I was made to be me…just ME. The only man’s opinion I care about is the one who loves me for being exactly that.
i feel the same way. i just take them with a grain of salt. i don’t want to change myself for anyone – guy or girl – and want someone who loves me for more than just what’s on the outside.
I wonder if this survey was done on all on all single guys or a mix? i feel no matter what a guy’s “preference” is, once they find the right person, they could have purple hair and it wouldn’t matter.
It’s funny, I was JUST talking to my roommate about this today. And I definitely agree with you! I honestly don’t think guys care too much about us looking perfect..sure they like us to take care of ourselves, dress up for events, etc. but I think I’ve discovered that confidence is really what matters the most. I’d say a guy is much more likely to approach you if you’re smiling and looking friendly as opposed to just dressed up and having a perfect body. Great post overall, and I LOVE the photo of Sadie!
Considering I’m a brunette with some serious junk in my trunk, the survey doesn’t surprise me in the least. I definitely get more male attention than some of my much thinner friends!!
I want to hug Sadie– and I want a Sadie hug in return!!
Gingers get no love! =(
I agree with girls dressing for other girls in some sort. I believe that girls don’t want to look bad compared to another girl so that’s why they dress up/wear make-up etc, It’s not necessarily FOR the girl. But also for themselves so they are more confident and don’t feel so self-conscious around other girls and men too.
I am not surprised on men liking girls with darker hair! I have been a blonde all my life and I think many people don’t take blondes as serious as girls with dark hair. Blonde’s get stereo-typed whereas men think girls with darker hair could be more sophisticated I guess.
I also agree with the curves! Men like girls who are a little thick. Although I have NONE I know they’d probably prefer a booty and hips rather than stick straight.
I agree with you! Women set the standards for other women and we’re always wanting to keep up with one another. Can we all just eat a donut??
I love this survey because I’m brunette and curvy! Haha. I might not like it so much if the results were different.
This definitely works out for me! haha. I definitely think the skinny thing is for other women. Guys dont notice weight nearly as much as we do.