Just to pull this thread back on topic since it has gone way off into right field, a dad bod doesn't mean fat. A dad bod typically means decent muscle mass with a bit of a gut and a little bit chubby. A man who is fat (such as myself) does not have a dad bod. A man who is skinny with a gut does not have a dad bod.

A man with a fit bod as a very low body fat percentage and has decent muscle mass but doesn't have to be necessarily jacked.

With all other factors held constant such as style, haircut, personality, charisma, etc.. I believe it is true that most women will be more physically attracted to a fit bod. I still believe a percentage of women will feel more attracted to a dad bod and none of the posts so far have convinced me otherwise.

Many posts in this threat conflate other factors with the man's body type which is not the topic of this thread.

Maybe there is more than just the strictly clinical question 'this exact fit body or this exact so-called dad body'.

I thought the question was about real women, out in the world. I do not think that they can see the whole, holistic person of a man, totally apart from his body type.

It's hard to answer otherwise, since it should be a strictly clinical trial, with randomly chosen women. They should see the specific men in a laboratory, where the men with the two exact body types are lined up.

From behind glass, otherwise the women might be distracted by smell/natural pheromones. The men should be without clothes, all the same haircut, body fully shaved, face covered, all to not disturb the pure choice of the two body types.

My assumption would be that in the laboratory setup most women would chose the fit body.

(08-22-2022 10:25 AM)Mr Level 1 Wrote:  My assumption would be that in the laboratory setup most women would chose the fit body.

Probably most but not all.

(07-15-2022 6:25 PM)Bookiegrey Wrote:  What looks are to men, confidence Is to women. Like when you see a hot woman, you as a man are like i got to have her, same is to women but with confidence in a man, they got to have you.Looks can get you in the door but if you have no confidence, looks do not matter.

THIS is the correct answer.

It took me many years to figure this one out and I was given A LOT of bad info along the way.

It all about confidence.
Unfortunately most women confuse being an asshole with true confidence.

All other things being equal, a fit body beats any other kind of body.
Edit: Blacky Chan has already said this.


That being said, many cultures have historically found fatter bodies more attractive as they symbolised wealth. Those were times of food scarcity, where the vast majority of jobs were intensely physically laborious. Of course in modern times; calories are in abundance and a large proportion of jobs are minimally physically intensive, hence now slimmer/fitter physiques are preferred.

I think the majority of modern western women who prefer dad bods do so out of their own personal body insecurity.

Just like men have various different things we look for.. ie some men like boobs more or ass more, some men like skinny, some like thick. Same with women. Some like bodybuilder some like thin. Others prefer some fat. As always it is a personal preference but in general most people want a healthy body

It makes me wonder: would/could women have better expectation management for what to expect from a guy.

I mean: are men more likely to aim for higher (even unreachable) goals, then women? (Or do men act though about hb8's and hb9's, but do they aim for a realistic dating goal when it comes to it?)

Are women more likely to aim for a guy that is compatible with their own appearance and social status? (Not the dream of the prince on the white horse, but what they actually aim for.)

Depends on the woman. Both can work out well.

Given that everything else (personality, intelligence, status) is the same, imho >90% would go for the fit guy. Of course there are many kinks, and beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but for the most humans evolutionary cues of fitness counts.
With the obesity pandemic there is a probably a shift in what is acceptable. And a realistic self image can also make a less-attractive, but probably long-term stable men more desireble than the highly attractive fit guy who most likely moves on to more attractive woman.

And there is of course personality and behavior. That can easily shift the scale. I found myself often more attracted to positive, engaged, extroverted, friendly woman with acceptable physical flaws than to perfect-bodied ice princesses.

I'm a bit on doubt about the dichotomy of "fit" vs. "dad" - what I read as old (but that can be a result of my non-nativness in the English language). Of course there can be fit older guys, right? Than being in that group can be quite attractive, as there is still physical attractiveness (a benefit of being male, we don't depend that much on youth), but paired with eloquence, experience, status. I several times "out-gamed" younger guys in clubs (half my age, in their mid-20ies, their prime), just by knowing how to connect with the women and by acting confident. In my experience, especially woman of higher intelligence and status won't date-down. In that case being older is even of benefit. Cross-cultural most women seek men 2-4 years older than themself. And look how long actors like Sean Connery, Harisson Ford, Georg Clooney or Daniel Craig have been sex symbols. Easily into their 6th decade.

And than there is the group of woman with daddy issues, really mental daddy issues with a dysfunctional family history. Tricky. Better to stay away.

Edited: I just realized that I really misinterpreted the therm "dad" abd and learned what a "dad bot" is. Wasn't aware of that. Anyhow, I wrote was I think, so just skip the age-related part as off-topic...