why is slimness in women considered more desirable than being big?

Answer 1

First n foremost it doesn't matter what size a woman is if you are attracted to her surely..

Personality wins me over every time,I have found many slim women Vain ,in that they are always trying to remain a size 8 or less, not much fun to be around..

Whereas the *Normal* size women are less inhibited about striving for the so called slim body size...

Of course you can't tar all with the same brush but I have found in general medium size to large women more fun and Real in their nature towards life in general......cheers IMHO

Answer 2

It is not a universal rule. The idea of what makes a woman attractive has changed throughout history and varies between cultures. In fact, it is more often the case that curves have been found to be more attractive than slimness. From a biological point of view, big hips and big breasts are signs of increased ability to bear and feed children. Prehistoric female figurines often has very pronounced curves. Bustles were a fashion designed to exaggerate hips. All the women in a Rubens masterpiece would be classed as obese today. Marilyn Monroe would probably be picked on for being overweight by some magazines today!

Slimness in women is very much a recent phenomenon - flapper girls in the 1920s and Mary Quant models in the 1960s accentuated slimness/boyishness and I think both were symbols of female emancipation - fashions driven by women themselves rather than what was considered attractive to men.

Even now you will see much curvier women on the front of men's magazines than on Vogue.

Answer 3

It's all to do with society and expectationsn if we are continually subjected to size 0 models then we all think we should be that way.

Personally, I'm a size 16-18 and although I get down about the way I look I have never had any real problems. I've not had problems attracting the opposite sex and as long as someone loves me for me, I'm not changing for anyone.


I'm sick of having stick thin women pushed in front of my face every day on the telly, adverts and in magazines. Was the death of a 21 year old model a few weeks ago not enough to warn people of the dangers of over slimming?

I'd love to be thinner than I am but we shouldn't be forced to feel like we should look that way, it's not fair!

Answer 4

You're not being very precise about your terms here, what's slim and what's big? Regardless, slimness isn't *always* more desirable.

It makes evolutionary 'sense' for men to prefer women who are neither overweight nor underweight, as that's an indicator of optimal fertility.

If you're talking about the recent fad for super skinny models, then that's entirely a cultural affair - being too thin to menstruate is not a positive fertility indicator. To be fair to men however, most studies show that they'd (very sensibly) prefer someone with a bit more meat on her bones than, say, Jodie Kidd (but less than Ann Widdecombe).

The other factor that influences what type of physique people (both men and women) prefer is what type of status it indicates. In western society slimmer is usually better because it shows you have the spare time to work on your physique, and you can afford to eat a healthy, varied diets. In other parts of the world being large is more desirable, as it shows you have the resources to purchase or produce an abundance of food - this attitude tends to change once people are exposed to western ideals.

Again, this is largely a cultural phenomenon, with its roots in biology. In addition to these factors, it goes without saying that there's an element of personal choice involved too!

Answer 5

I think the societal perception has a lot to do with this. We have been taught that being big and overweight is unhealthy, that'swhy slim is seen as desirable. Slim (in society's eyes) = healthy.

However, a lot of guys (and I'm one of them) think that too slim is also unhealthy. We prefer girls to have 'feminine curves' because they are neither perceived to be overweight, or too skinny and possibly anorexic. They are thought of as the happy middle ground, or the 'best' of both worlds.

Society is also trying to feed us these messages where men are concerned. Adorning a bookshelf near you will be 'mens' magazines persuading you to buy into a perceived 'male ideal.' Overweight or underweight and skinny males are supposedly equally undesirable. The male ideal is someone with well-toned, rippling muscles. You don't get too many men like this, and there is a lot of work involved to get them looking this way.

All of this though is just subjective opinion; I can think of slim and overweight girls who look dreadful. I can also think of 'skinny' or 'fat' girls who look fantastic. Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.

Answer 6

desirable to who?

to men, i think by and large they are happy with something in the middle. i think most men would prob go for girls between size 10 - 14 (uk) cos its not too much of one or the other. but there are guys who like really slim i.e. size 8 and below or who like curvier i.e. 16 - 20 or even big girls i.e 20 +. Every man is different and most will at some point date women with different builds and physiques

however, i think slim is more desirable to women or ourselves cos we are bombarded with media images of slim young things on thefront of magazines, sashaying down the catwalk and hanging off the arms of famous men. we want to be the prettiest, the most atraxctive, the most popular and we believe that this means slim. we forget this means beautiful inside.

Answer 7

today's society has made us believe that slim is better
actually a woman with a nice round belly is considered by many
to be a sign of fertility and were chosen for mates based on the fact that they appeared healthier and more able to bear children.
some cultures saw big women as goddesses

Answer 8

It's all got to do with Tv and media mainly.People see tabloid magazines trashing Tv people for having a bit of cellulite on their legs.Very often there isn't enough sexy big women on Tv.So the only exposure of sexy that people are led to believe and see is slim. It's got to do with how people percieve things and big is percieved badly. What makes a women sexy?.....What she knows....desirable = sexy

Answer 9

I don't think skinny is any more desirable than fat. I prefer healthy myself i.e not over weight but not too thin either. Supermodels are pointless anyway. Isn't the fashion industry run by women and gay men anyway. So this perception that men find skinny women desirable has no basis, does it?



Oh and big is not desirable in men either is it?

Answer 10

It's all about Hippocrates TV bigots and media and our own individual choice and preference.. If we choose to watch TV and these skinny people then it's our own fault.. if we choose to be big it's our own fault.. Take the UK for instance if obesity and laziness are taking over people then why are the government handing out permits for so many fast food joints we have a McDonald's kfc pizza hut Chinese Indian sandwhich shops cake shops practically on every street corner.. they're taking away our industry's and factory's so where are we suppose to work...It's only our own greed that does it to us..Generations before us fought wars for freedom of speech and freedom of choice they got us it and look at what it's done for us put us in self distruct because we have too much choice and too much freedom.. I think its about time we all stopped feeling sorry for ourselves about the past and the future and concentrate on the hear and now.. Nobody can predict the future nor change the past so lets just stop bitching about each other stop worrying about the future and regretting the past lets just LIVE our OWN life..As long as your comfortable in your own skin why care what someone else thinks..just be who you want to be...