Body dysmorphia, Taylor Lautner and what women want

[JoeJustice]

Heather has complained to me a few times about how all of her friends are googly eyed over Taylor Lautner in the movie New Moon, even though some are old enough to be his mother. If you don't know what New Moon is... oh wait, who am I kidding? Everyone knows about that movie!! Taylor Lautner is the guy that played Jacob, the werewolf.

You might remember that not too long ago I made a post about Body dysmorphia, the media and the opposite sex (http://www.transformetrics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4140). The gist of it was that body dysmorphia problems are largely due to young folks misinterpreting what the opposite sex wants. Read the whole post to get a better idea of what I'm talking about.

What does this have to do with Taylor Lautner and New Moon? Well for months now I've been hearing about how muscular Taylor was in that movie. So I was actuality expecting something akin to Arnold is his heyday, but after finally seeing the flick over the weekend, I saw that Lautner has a good, solid build, but nothing at all like a bodybuilder. And with all of the affection shown to him by women, I'd say it's fair to say Lautner's body-type is what women want. Either that or women are really into dudes who can turn into wolfs!

So how many guys out there have been brainwashed by the bodybuilding magazines to believe it's the bodybuilder look that women want? Even during Arnold's movie career peak, his core audience was men, not women. Just compare a bodybuilder with Taylor Lautner, you'll see a big difference and realize that it's the Taylor Lautner type body that women prefer.

-Joe

[JoeJustice]

Women...

You'll never see a man lust after a girl young enough to be his daughter! Oh wait...

-Joe

[JoeJustice]

I'm just clowning around.

-Joe

[Andy62]

I haven't seen the movie,but rather than his build it may be the role that he is playing if he is the "werewolf". A lot of women are attracted by "bad boys" -it is the excitement, the danger, and breaking the boredom. It has been my observation that women are generally not attracted to the heavily muscled Arnold type and prefer a well built man,but not to that extreme. Also a lot of the muscle head Wilie Coyote types turn off women because they are only interested in themselves and women like a man to be interested in them. The "macho role" is a defense mechanism and a sign of weakness that all women can read. Don't underestimate the "game possibilities" in women raving about some movie star or other celebrity to put the men in their lives on the defensive, Read "The Games People Play" by Dr Eric Berne or "Born To Win" Muriel James and Dorothy Jongeward. It is just a game and if you understand it it's fun,but if you come on like a Wilie Coyote you too will go home alone.

[John Peterson]

Hey Friends,

This is interesting because not long ago I was watching the Yul Brynner movie "Kings of the Sun" with my wife, Denise. (Great movie!) Anyway, there were lots of body builders in that film but not one of them had the aesthetic appeal to my wife that Yul Brynner had. Brynner had a perfectly developed, lithe, athletic physique that was ultra lean and non-bulky. According to his son 'Rock,' Yul had sustained a severe back injury that happened to him when he was a young acrobat. For this reason he was a Push-Up fanatic because he wanted to keep all of the supportive muscles in perfect condition and he also practiced a series of spinal decompression exercises daily that would allow him to deal with his constant pain. Even so, he still had to be hospitalized numerous times because of his back. And although his son never mentioned it, I would not be surprised if his dad also practiced a great deal of chinning because Chinning (Pull-Ups/Chin-Ups) is the ultimate back decompression exercise in my opinion. One other thing he did mention was that his dad was a chain smoker that smoked five packs each day in order to keep his weight down and help keep his back pain under control.

---John Peterson

[MikeNY]

I've been told by ladies; they preferr men that meet the Health Charts used by Doctors for normal height and weight; I'd call it the Boxer's build. The kid in the movie was normal not creepy like the weight lifter. My bet is Gordon has it right ladies like a bad boy and we all know wolves lol, oh yeah not werewolves. Gordon the Wile E. Coyote types have lives out of control, always seemed the momma's boy type when we were kids; and died a thousand times of fright and were never choosen for the baseball team.

Joe the Bodybuilder dude in the photo was just plain creepy and weird looking, looks like someone beat him all over with a baseball bat and he'd got all swollen up; yeah stole that line from Danny DeVito in Twins, never had a chance to use it before lol.

I got talked by a lady into seeing the first Twilight movie; the lucky guys were the ones that got to walkout of the movie before it ended.

John is so right men would never look at a lady young enough to be thier daughter, lol yeah right. Seems like the ladies now are cougers and just as bad as men.

[tom]

Proud to say I have no idea what New Moon is nor either of the guys in the picture.

Back when I was a youngster and dabbled at being a runner, I remember reading in a running book that, according to the author, women preferred the light, running type. Then, still in my teenage years, I once went out with a girl who said she preferred big guys with lots of muscles. Ouch. So confusing.

I assume that the lithe look (say that out loud ten times while walking through a supermarket) is the preferred look among most women, but I'm sure that guy on the right has a girlfriend, too. For me, I believe the slim type will tend to lead to longer life, and I'm more attractive alive than dead.

Tom

[JoeJustice]

My point is a bit broader than the body-type women prefer; having to do with the evolution of body dysmorphia and the misinterpretation and then exaggeration of the opposite sex's body-type preference in targeted marketing.

-Joe

[MikeNY]

Women might be programmed by Mother Nature to be attracted to the leaner, hunter, warrior type over the fat looking weird mr. muscles by steroid type, obviously he won't live long at that size and in ancient times couldn't catch a mouse. Tom not sure he'd have a girl friend or even want one; he might be to steroided out to even care.

Joe is right the media tries to program us, pushs the 11 year old skinny girl build for adult women; 5'7" and 75 lbs is a tad anorexic! Men preferr women more weight on them then a 11 year old girl, as Joe once pointed out; using men's magazines adult female types compared to the waif "little girl" type build pushed in women's magazines. No wonder every women thinks she is fat after seeing waif's in clothes.

[djanello]

Hey Joe,

If I recall, chicks went really nuts for Bill Clinton back in the day.

Not exactly the kind of physique endorsed by this site, unless it is in a "Before" picture :)

[JoeJustice]

How could you not love the bulbous nose and roguish smile??

-Joe

[Andy62]

Taskmaster, I definitely agree with your conclusion there. A large part of attraction is based on emotions and psychological roles. Guys trying to fake it by playing a "macho role" [not necessarily related too body type] tend to attract women with wild, roving, eyes that like to play off of them and exploit their insecurities.

[Dr. success]

Great insights from all.

John, I read a quote in which Yul said bodybuilding was the smartest and best thing he's ever done.

There's a long-running cliche of gym members always working their chest and arms, but never squatting. It's usually attributed to laziness or ignorance. However, after reading several of your comments regarding spine compression, I wonder if it's not the body's own innate intelligence telling them not to compress their spines.

Getting under a squat bar for the first time is a lot like smoking your first cigarette. You know it's not good for you, but you do it anyway.

[April]

Seems like the ladies now are cougers and just as bad as men.




It's women's lib gone haywire.

I haven't seen the movie. I don't watch movies anymore.

I once saw an article about a young man married to a really old lady, and she looked really old. Maybe she was 50 years older than him. In the picture, she was sitting on his lap. They both looked happy. I can only surmise that it was the figures on her bank statement that turned him on.

[CecilS]

Wow, check the brow ridge on the bodybuilder. Classic sign of growth hormone use.

Anyway, I think that women do prefer the lean healthy, slightly musclular look the most. If you think about times when human's had to forage for food (hunter gatherer type stuff) that look would indicate to the woman that he's a provider. There was no context for bodybuilder type physiques because 1. Steroids didn't exist. 2. Free time to follow a workout designed soley to pack large amounts of muscle on our body did not exist. 3. Such large amounts of muscle would not be able to be maintained if ever acquired due to diet and activity levels or types. Lot's of walking. Tree trunk thighs need not apply.

Fast forward to today. Men hear women like shoulders (for instance) to some men this then means that means the absolute bigger the better. Then you also have marketers pushing the hyperbolic male image as well. It's the classic if a little is good a lot is better. In reality sometimes less is more.

This leads to the "shiny new" image of the overstuffed look of today's comic bookish bodybuilders being pushed as the ideal. Sure some women are attracted to that, but then some women are even attracted to overweight guys.

A similar thing has obviously happened to women though rather than big muscles its the ultra skinny look.

The vast majority of women though, prefer the look they've been programmed via genetics to prefer, the look of the one who is healthy and can be a good provider. Workout techniques such as Transformetrics methods, Charles Atlas, the Forysteks and other body weight or dynamic tension, or dvr based protocols build this desired physique.

[JoeJustice]

Thank you Cecil! You've nailed it exactly!


Fast forward to today. Men hear women like shoulders (for instance) to some men this then means that means the absolute bigger the better. Then you also have marketers pushing the hyperbolic male image as well.

This is what has caused the modern psychological phenomenon of body dysmorphia. It's not because women want bigger guys, it's because guys BELIEVE women want bigger guys and the media caters to that. Similarly guys don't want waif women, but women BELIEVE they do and the media caters to that.

Does this bodybuilder has a girlfriend? Do some guys like skin-and-bones women? That's totally irrelevant to the point I'm making.

The point is simply this: Do not burden yourself with the body image put forward in the media believing that it is what the opposite sex wants. I'm presenting Taylor Lauthner as an example of my point. He is not the muscle mag media example of the ubermensch, and yet, he's got plenty of attention from the opposite sex.

-Joe

[Andy62]

Go with psychological projection, vibrations, and animal magnetism. It out lasts everything and it is a dimension of NERVE FORCE Some of those old European courtesans were attracting men into their advanced years.