Photo: rawpixel.com / shutterstock
Wait — this is actually great news.
By Berry — Written on May 05, 2021
By Lisa Marie Basile
Despite great strides in body positivity, women constantly scrutinize themselves in front of the mirror.
Instead of seeing our bodies as amazing, strong, life-giving machines, we sometimes tend to see only what we perceive as flaws under the glaring neon light in our minds — fat arms, cellulite, muffin tops, one bigger boob than the other — you name it.
It doesn’t help that the fashion industry designs clothes for only one body type, or that the media and TV value thinness above all, making us feel like we always need to lose weight or tone up.
And while it shouldn’t matter what anyone thinks about our bodies, sometimes it can be interesting to hear a man’s take on our bodies — so I asked several men what they thought about women’s perceived “flaws.”
I asked them to be brutally honest since I’d make them anonymous anyway.
Find out what guys really think about your body, broken down by various parts of the female anatomy:
1. Your arms
“I never see your 'fat' or 'untoned' arms — but it’s clear that you do every second of every day. Men are simple creatures. We fall into a few categories — and those categories don’t ever include arm guys. We like boobs, butts, legs. So am I worried about your arms or knees or hands? No. I’m just looking at your boobs and your butt.”
2. Your belly
“I’ll be honest — if your belly is proportionate with the rest of your body, it’s fine. If a lady has a beer gut — well, sure, that can seem unattractive depending on the rest of her body, but more often than not, it’s just more 'cushion for the pushing.’ We definitely don’t want to see someone who doesn’t care for their body, but we really aren’t as damning as you think.”
3. Your body shape
“Some men like really skeletal women and some men love curvy women. There’s a man out there that craves every type of women’s physique — and magazines or whatever teach you about literally one of those — or maybe two in the modern era of the curvy girl, but they don’t talk about the men who prefer bigger women or bottom-heavy girls or small-chested women. But we’re out there.”
4. Your breasts
“There are men who like all types of breasts. Different size breasts, big nipples, small nipples, saggy breasts, big, small, full. What you see in magazines — ripe, firm, pert breasts — is probably not something they’ve ever seen in real life. Their experience of breasts is of the normal breasts, not these abnormally 'perfect' ones (that are usually implants.) At the end of the day, if you like breasts, you like breasts. It has very little to do with size, I think. Shape trumps size any day, in my opinion."
5. Your cellulite
“Cellulite is common, we know this. It’s sort of like a woman’s armor as she grows older. It’s normal. It’s not a problem, same with stretch marks. And with all us dudes sitting here with our bellies out, who are we to judge?”
6. Your height
“Tall women feel like they need to be with men who are taller. That’s a woman’s hang-up. And some men want smaller women to make them feel powerful ... but a lot of guys like tall women. I don’t think I’ve ever not talked to a girl because she was crazy short or tall or anything like that.”
7. Your weight
“A lot of men don’t like the exceptionally tall, sometimes shapeless, super-skinny model body. The media may tell you that, but men love all bodies. Most men I know like real women — real, actual women, weight and all.”
8. Your hips
“Men don’t care too much about hips, specifically, but we like the behind. So hips and behinds usually go together ... and if we like butts, we usually like some big hips too. Don’t worry too much about how big your hips are. If they look good on your body with your bum, we’re into them. And muffin tops? They’re nature’s handlebars. Honestly, poorly-made clothes create muffin top issues. And that doesn’t look good. But when you’re naked, chances are we love it. Don’t stress about it.”
And if you're wondering about the first body part a man notices, it's your eyes girls! Aww!
More for You:
Lisa Marie Basile is a poet, essayist and editor living in New York City. She's the founder and creative director of Luna Luna Magazine, an editor at Ingram’s poetry site Little Infinite, and co-host for the podcast, AstroLushes, which intersects astrology, literature, wellness, and culture.