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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Love this! As a brunette six 6 with a booty I know I will never be “skinny” to some but my husband hates the look of rail thin women. Apparently looking like a teenage boy is not a turn on!
I always have this conversation with my sisters–I think women tend to dress and stay and shape for other women, like you said. Women and men have different ideals, but what is most important is how each individual feels. I just posted about this topic and it gets me seriously heated!! Because I’m short, a size 8 or 10 would be considered overweight for my size. Plus, I know I would feel unhealthy. Weight doesn’t necessarily matter, but your level of health does. I don’t care if men like me 20lbs heavier because I know that I wouldn’t feel my best. Okay, I’ll stop ranting now! 🙂
I’m not surprised, because it shows that men think about procreation as well as women! Women tend to choose men who would be a protector and provider. Men are choosing these women because the women they are describing are women who they would choose to have a family with and trust to raise their children, not a supermodel! Not to say that they don’t find supermodel types physically attractive, but they wouldn’t necessarily settle down with them. I do think that women have to be thin for other women and there is enormous pressure to be thin. The “comparison trap” is SO real, I fight it all the time!
I honestly didn’t expect the size statistic. It’s always seemed that they prefer the thinner type of girl. Might just be the immature guys at my school though!
The hair seemed to be split pretty evenly between brown, blonde and black. I personally prefer red hair though so I’m shocked that was so low!
I totally agree on your theory! My boy likes a booty too. I’m skinny, but I still have one!
A bit late to comment on this but…
1) if you have someone who loves you like you are, be thankful. some people search their lives for that.
2) instead of being jealous/knocking a small or fit fellow female……drop and give yourself a few pushups!
if she can do it, you can too. NO SUBSTITUTE for hard work!
Women are too critical and jealous of others these days. My biceps will never be shaped like hers, your butt will never be like your neighbors…why not give her a pat on the back instead of an evil eye.
Thanks for a great conversation topic, Julie!
I’m a brunette [and working on ma curves]! I think it’s so true that women are so worried about their looks more for other women than men!
I fall into this trap of giving too much credence to surveys like this. Why do we pay any attention (as most comments here have) to a study that focuses on desirability based on appearance? Aren’t we secretly reading into how physical attraction determines our worth (though when we address it consciously, we say in no way does physical appearance determine whether a guy wants us or not)? Early on in dating my bf, I asked what he was attracted to, and he answered candidly – tall, thin, brunette, and then sheepishly apologized because it was obvious I was not tall or thin, only brunette. At the time, I didn’t care because I didn’t want anything serious. But a year later with him, I now find it hard to trust he is 100% attracted to me. I wish I could chime in with other commenters who say their bfs love them for exactly who they are, but I can’t. Due to stress I lost 8 lbs abruptly, and he told me he didn’t want to give me a complex but that I looked really good. *fml* Lastly, I don’t relate to all these posts saying we dress for other women. I dress for guys. I think we women are indoctrinated to paint our nails, do our hair, wear make-up, even express love for the color pink, because we’re taught that if we do that, then we are a feminine, appropriate, “together.”
Hi Julie! I love your blog- you are always so positive and I have definitely gotten some great recipes from you- especially smoothies! I just wanted to chime in here and say that I’ve never actually thought about it that way, but women totally do dress for other women! That’s so weird when you think about it, but it’s really true that guys really do not notice little details about your clothing/accessories like girls do, so it’s almost kind of funny how much effort girls put in to look good for guys, when they really hardly take notice- it’s just how their brains are wired!
It made me kind of sad the other day when I was shoe shopping- I overheard two women (who were friends) shopping together and one of them stopped and looked at a pair of nude flats with a small bow detail on the toe. Her friend told her not to get them, even though the other girl really liked the shoes, because guys won’t even notice the bow detail and that guys like simpler shoes that give off the impression that the wearer is not high maintenance. I felt so bad for the girl who liked the cute shoes- I hope she bought them because SHE liked them, because although her friend is right that a guy might not take notice to her shoes (but hopefully won’t deem her ‘high maintenance’ because of a tiny bow!!) she should buy the cute shoes she likes for her!! That’s my addition to the rant. Again, your blog is awesome and I totally sympathize with your moving, because I am in the process of moving too and it is the worst!!
To each their own. With the help of cravings from birth control I gained 30 pounds in 2 months and it just kept going up. Me, I want to be a healthy weight. My husband is just happy I am not as skinny as I was in high school. I still get teased for the size zero dress I wore to prom. For the record it was a babydoll dress. Hello, size 0 meant I had no boobs! I now have boobs, an ass (hubby is an ass man so he is happy) and a gut that I wish would just go away. I am happy to have curves now. I hated having a boyish figure growing up.
As for men, I like them to have meat on them cause skinny doesn’t do it for me. I tease my hubby cause I always liked dark haired guys and my hubby was born a blond. LOL
BTW, that pic of Sadie is just ADORABLE!
women can be curvy at a size 1, just like women who are a size 10 aren’t always “curvy.”
I think men just prefer a healthy girl in general and you can appear healthy at all different sizes. Personally I think a woman is attractive when she has a glow and a strong body whether it be toned and lean or fit and curvy. Most men are attracted to women who care about their bodies, eat right and exercise. Plus good skin, healthy hair and a pretty smile is always nice.
Aw, boo. My ‘kind’ definitely came out at the bottom for that survey. The red heads with green eyes get no love!
I think the article leaves a lot of this information rather open-ended…a woman who is 5’1″ and a size 8-10 is going to look very different from a woman who is 5’9″ and a size 8-10. I’m 5’2″ and a size 2 with a very small frame and would most definitely consider myself a curvy girl (literally an hourglass with boobs and a booty that are relatively large for MY body type/shape) – so I hope people who have read this post don’t solely focus on the size 8-10 factor. Just becuase you’re a size 8 doesn’t mean you’re ‘curvy,’ and just because you’re a size 2 doesn’t make you ‘too skinny.’
julie, i’ve been reading your blog for a while and this post (and sarah’s post) are really nice to read. i’m training for my first marathon and my thighs are getting quite large and it’s hard to remember to tell myself that this is happening so i can complete this amazing athletic feat…your blog helps. 🙂
I have been reading for quite awhile but this post really stuck out me as i really stuggle with an eating disorder. It makes me sad that women dwelle so much on their weight (myself included, obviously). I believe a woman/girl is move beautiful when they are healthy and happy. Rather than the girl who dwelles on their weight and is crabby because she can’t have that bag of chips. I don’t thing men really think that much about weight. I know my boyfriend would prefer me to happy about myself then to care so much about what the scale says. Eating disorders destroy your mind and body and would give anything to have a happy and healthy mind. THAT is the most important thing. Who cares what your body looks like!? ONLY YOU.