Following on from my musing on the feminine form

[annwfyn]

Something that someone said earlier was that Hollywood would naturally use skinny actresses if that is what the public found attractive, and it got me wondering. Now, I tend to stamp my feet and yell "skinny isn't that cute", probably horribly offending thin people everywhere, but maybe I'm wrong.

I am therefore making this post - this epic, photo heavy orgy of bikini shots with a poll at the bottom.

I think it's mostly work safe - no p*rn here - but is very image-filled.

1)


2)


3)


4)


5)


6)


7)


8)


9)


10)


11)


12)


13)


14)


15)

[Poll #988704]

And finally, feel free to discuss this in the comments section. I'm genuinely very interested what my friends genuinely find attractive in women.

Comments

[lawrencegillies.livejournal.com]

I couldn't see a lot of the pictures, probably some firewall issues, but I think I saw the ones that I needed to. I couldn't tell if 4 and 9 also fell within tolerances.

Of the ones I could see, they largely appeared to be skinny in a skin and bones way rather than the more athletic looking way that is also possible.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

The pics I put up show a range of women, running from very very skinny, to very very large. I've got some models in there, one olympic swimmer, a couple of actresses, and a bunch of random others. I was mostly aiming to find out what people found attractive - whether skinny, podgy, or in between was what folk went for.

So far no one has gone for the Olympic swimmer. Poor girl :(

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Oh! Except you! You voted for the athelete!

[lawrencegillies.livejournal.com]

is that number 6?

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Yup. That's the one.

[lawrencegillies.livejournal.com]

I'm actually quite intrigued about what numbers 5 and 9 look like. I can't see number one, but I'm kind've apppaled that there is someone skinnier than number 2!

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Girl 1 is pretty skeletal - she's a model, and you can count every single rib on her.

It was looking for pictures of skinny models and finding that this morning that really sparked this entire poll.

[taimatsu]

She is really rather scary. Just skin and bone, nothing there at all. She's got to be in the no-periods scary-anorexic-symptoms camp, surely. I don't understand how that can be considered an attractive shape with which to sell clothes. Very thin, like 3 and 4, I can understand, but they have some minimal padding between their skeletons and their skin. Number 1 just looks like... I don't know, like she's risen from the grave or something. Give that woman a Dairy Milk and a hug, for crying out loud!

[lawrencegillies.livejournal.com]

Number 4's legs look wrong to me, her thighs are too thin to be attractive.

[taimatsu]

Oh, yes, I'm not saying they are *attractive* - but I can understand why these women are models. 1 and 2 I just can't. There's 'very slender' and 'I can see all your bones'.

[purpleheather.livejournal.com]

Don't hug her - she'd snap!

[headinclouds.livejournal.com]

That photo has been altered (http://www.snopes.com/photos/people/models.asp) - she's still way too skinny for my liking in the original, but still, not as bad as that.

[lawrencegillies.livejournal.com]

Out of curiosity, is number 6 by any chance Australian? I'm not sure quite why, but she has the look of an Aussie to me...

[nadriel.livejournal.com]

I've never been a fan of excessive skinniness, it must be said.

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

My ideal is rather hourglassy in a voluptuous fashion. Several sizes larger than the one I picked as 'closest to my ideal', but largely because the larger women in the photographs weren't the right shape :)

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Sadly finding the bikini shots of larger women proved very tricksy! I've spent far more time than I should doing that today. Girls 10 and 11 were quite an accomplishment, I have to say.

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

Mmm, Girl 10 :)

No, I know how difficult it is locating decent bikini shots of larger woman!

(And before anyone gets ideas, I know this from looking for bikinis for larger women...)

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Girl 8 and Girl 10 are my favourites which is odd, as when I was younger I had a big thing for tiny pixie-like girls. That was absolutely my ideal. I appear to have changed my tastes as I've grown older - curves and a certain softness seems to do it for me these days.

This is, of course, extremely helpful as I am 5'8" and am never going to look like any kind of pixie!

[tooth-fairy.livejournal.com]

I think of any number of figures being attractive for a woman but they would all fall in the slimmish category. I don't think skinny is attractive but slim and healthy can be, I think that curves, even voluptous (maybe size 18) can be attractive but a lot of it comes down to shape, tone and how the individual carries it off.
I find it hard to see a figure as attractive if it is so big that you can't really see curves any more, at the same time skin hanging off bones is not a good look. For myself I would like to be athletically slim with a bit of a bust. Ideally size 10 with a C cup, that is my ideal for myself (having been there).

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

My ideal for me is a size 12 - I know I can't really get below that without falling into some unhealthy habbits. Bust-wise, I really like being a DD cup, which is what I am at the moment. Since my operation I think my breasts have gone from being my least favourite part of me to being my favourite.

I guess after having had plastic surgery on them, they'd have to!

[tooth-fairy.livejournal.com]

my boobs are far too big at the moment, anything over a D and I'm starting to feel a bit top heavy but they have gone up to an F now. Even though this does make me feel smaller elsewhere I'm not comfortable with it. Hopefully when I shift some of the weight I'll be ok.
I think I can be ok as a size 10, according to those scales in boots the ideal weight for my build and height is 8 stone 4lb. Now if I weighed that I would be a size 8 and as far as I'm concerned would be too small. I got down to 8 stone 6lb and Tiffany was calling me lolly pop girl. I think I can do size 10 healthily but I think that is down to my bone structure, I have small, small hips.

[purpleheather.livejournal.com]

8 stone 4!! Crikey. I weigh 8 stone 12 & people who see me regularly are saying I look thin. I'm happy with my figure as it is, and wouldn't want to loose any more.

[wildrogue.livejournal.com]

I really like the athlete.

In the end I went for 7 because somewhere between 6 and 8 is about my ideal figure. Curvy but with muscle tone.

Of course if I actually wanted to achieve this I would have to do considerably more exercise but that's something I have learned to live with.

[astro-dust.livejournal.com]

For a brief moment i was feeling awful and was about to put number 5 as my ideal of feminine beauty, and therefore hang myself as a tool of the chauvinist machine. But then i realised. the sight of obviously augmented breasts seem really quite silly to me. At times i look at them and think "what made that poor girl so unhappy that she thought turning her boobies into strange domes would fix things??"

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

I briefly considered 5, but only because her arse in the second picture is so good. The rest... naah.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Silicon does just look so very different to real breasts!

[childofcrow.livejournal.com]

10 is gorgeous! Somewhere between 8 & 10 and I would be a happy girl.

[reindeerflotila.livejournal.com]

5 8 and 9 are i think, my favourites.

98 is of course, Takara from ANTM

[lapinenoireuk.livejournal.com]

I can't (for reasons unknown) see all of the pictures here but, for my tuppence, I'd go for option 8. (the black & white photo)

Can I end by just saying that 1 & 2 look positively scarey. You'd be afraid of breaking them in half.

[taimatsu]

I'm suite intrigued by the marked difference in opinions between 10 and 11. I think 11 is only slightly bigger than 10 - it's the clothing and attitude that make the dfference. Turn #10 front-on and put her in a top and skirt like #11's and you wouldn't see a lot of difference.

Also, #13 is in an incredibly unflattering position. Stand her up and put her in a top and skirt, and again she wouldn't look much different from #11.

I used to think I wouldn't go for larger women; but then I started dating one, and oh! the sexiness :)

[taimatsu]

Sorry, it's #12 in the unflattering position - the cute one sitting down eating cake ;)

[lawrencegillies.livejournal.com]

As an aside, i am a man, and dress sizes mean nothing to me, and I find the system quite arcane and confusing. What dress sizes would these women be likely to be?

Pure guesswork in most cases. I may be wrong...

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

1 - 4 - I don't know, but I'm guessing under a UK size 6.

5 - 6 - Again, I don't know, but my guess would be a size 8 or so. Both look relatively healthy to me, but very much on the small side.

7 -8 - Scarily these both claimed to be plus sized models. I think both are size 10-12. They aren't very big at all, but are quite large by model sizes apparently,

9 - 11 - not sure - but again these are plus sized models. I'd guess around a size 14. Maybe a UK size 16 if you're pushing it.

12 - I don't know - I'd guess at a size 16, I think.

13 - Size 16- 18 maybe?

14-15 - no idea.

Re: Pure guesswork in most cases. I may be wrong...

[taimatsu]

Number 11 looks maybe my size, and I am a small 16. I'd guess #13 at size 18, and 14 maybe size 20. Still no idea on #15.

Re: Pure guesswork in most cases. I may be wrong...

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

#14 is closer to a 24 on the bottom, I think.

#15 is in that place where sizes do not go. Probably over a 40, though at that stage most clothing websites give up on normal sizes and run the 1X-8X system. For reference, I'm normally about a 2X/3X on the top and a 4X/5X on the bottom, which roughly equates to 20-22 and 30.

Re: Pure guesswork in most cases. I may be wrong...

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

You could be right with #11. I was thinking she looked quite close to my size, and I'm a smallish size 14, but then I'm quite bad at judging my own shape at times.

Re: Pure guesswork in most cases. I may be wrong...

[lilitufire.livejournal.com]

I think 12 and 13 are bigger than that.

I have to be honest and say attitude makes a huge difference to me with regard to who I find sexy. I like some curves at a minimum, but after that it's much more about what's inside the head rather than what's on the outside. Same with men, really - I have a taste for chunky blondes, but my husband, while blonde, is definitely not chunky :)

[commlal.livejournal.com]

Youve got a nice bell curve from that survey, well done.

#1 is probably not even a size 6, probably in dire need of some chocolate cake.

I'm more in the #11,12,13 size range, but would far prefer the 8,9 size range.

[cairmen.livejournal.com]

3 and 4 are rather difficult to call because we don't know how tall they are. I'd find 3 attractive if she was above about 5'8" or so.

Must admit when I voted for 5 I'd not spotted the boob job. My, those look fake. Can I switch my vote to 6, please?

(in Hugh-votes-for-the-athletic-woman shocker...)

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

I loathe fake boobs. I think they look entirely daft - she looks really cute, except for the big plastic lumps on her chest!

I'll assume you voted for the athletic woman instead.

[anysbryd.livejournal.com]

I generally find the whole thing rather difficult to judge, i dont tend to reflect on just the body, but i think the face also has a big impact, as such its often difficult to just judge someones body, also some of those pictures are at awful angles.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Jez and Andy said that - I wish I could have found more uniform pictures, but it was really really hard. Basically, google images seems to divide women into the following categories:

Very skinny - either 'horror! anorexia!' shots or 'catwalk model' shots.

Quite slim - glamour model shots

A bit bigger - they don't show off flesh, and are carefully posed

Plus sized - either very unflattering candids, or heavily covered up.

I wanted to have cheesecake bikini shots of all, but they were next to impossible to find for women outside of a certain range of size.

[purpleheather.livejournal.com]

*nods* And I couldn't help but be swayed by facial expressions and odd things like the fact that #12 was eating. I'm odd about watching people eat.

[elethiomel.livejournal.com]

*nods* I go that too.

I may have gone for number 6 except that a bad angle makes it hard to judge and I was, probably, swayed by an unnattractive face (unfortunately it really is hard to separate them out).

5, conversely, had a rather sultry look and a fine bottom.

[adze.livejournal.com]

On the subject of attractiveness, I don't find faces, or bodies attractive on their own. To my mind, it's always been the whole package that's important - face, body, personality.

I've known a great many pretty girls who have ended up being really unattractive to me because of how they act.

All that said, though, I have to say I prefer curvy women to thin ones, but there's a limit. I think my preferences run from about 5 to 11 overall, on this list...

[silverclear.livejournal.com]

Oh this is such a delicious LJ post! I've not read the comments yet, but I've flicked up and down the images for five minutes now, prodding at my brain for reactions!

But I don't know if I can answer your poll in any useful way, because I'm so utterly biased due to fighting my corner since I was about thirteen and it became apparent I was never going to be "curvy". I find slim utterly attractive probably more because I have spent so much time telling people that it can be normal and healthy and OK. But I do have a dim memory of finding my curvy teenage girl friends hugely attractive, in a sort of can't-tear-my-gaze-away sort of way. I hardly ever react like that any more. Have I conditioned myself? Don't know.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, I never thought you looked at all unhealthy, although you've always been very thin. Your body always fitted your face, your skin looked good, and not stretched out, and your elbows and knees didn't look out of proportion, which are the things that I define as making someone 'too thin'.

My reactions to this post are, I think, quite heavily related to my feelings about my own body. For years I found 'thin' very attractive - I don't know if that explain why I disliked my own body so much, or if my liking thin women was me mostly going for something which was visibly 'not Sally'. Now I am a lot more relaxed with myself (although I do need to lose some weight) and am slowly finding curvier girls nicer to look at.

[ulaidhan.livejournal.com]

Myself, I voted for #5 as a result of the second picture. Had it only been the first, I think I'd have voted #6.

Athletic with curves, definitely, for me. ;)