The idealised female body

D

D E B S T E R

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16
Name
Debbie Ward
Edit My Images
No
i am on my 3rd year of my ba hons photography degree and currently writing my dissertation on the female body. i am undertaking a questionnaire currently and need answers from all different people, so i thought it would be a good idea to post my questionnaire on here. it would be great to see some responses and will be extremely helpful! where it says please circle just make your answer another colour or bold or something. thank you!
Debbie x




Questionnaire
The perfect female body


1.) Are you (please circle)

Male Female


2.) Age group (please circle)

16-18 19-21 22-30 31-40 41-50 50+

3.) With the images shown below who would you class or think has the ‘idealised’ female body (please circle)

(a)
betty-grable.jpg


(b)
3311cindy~Cindy-Crawford-Posters.jpg


(c)
kate_moss_gypsy_xin_370.jpg


(d)
marilyn_monroe.jpg


(e)
keira-knightley.jpg


4.) In your own words what do you feel the ideal female body should look like? (such as shape, proportion, facial/body features, etc)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


4.) Who do you feel creates this idea of the perfect female body? (please circle)

The Media Women themselves Sociecty (such as men) Games


Cinema Beauty Products/Stores Other (please state) _________________
 
Not sure I'll be the best help, but hopefully will get the ball rolling for you

1. female
2. 31-40
3. a = pretty good, what I'd hope I could look like (without the big hair)
b = greasy. yuk. but reckon the boys will like it.
c = cute but skinny - don't like the ribs
d = too dim and vulnerabe, awful swimming costume
e = sassy and most appealing - except too boyish and thin. no boobs, stomach too flat, possible camel toe - v. yuk.

4. perfect female body - shapely but confident. kylie minogue, but possibly not so short!

5. who creates this image? On the whole I think women create the too thin image (bitchy about fat people, critical of but often secretly envious of anorexia), boys more fond of shapely and revealing in all sorts of characters. cinema feeds both images and tries to stay ahead of the trends. gossip columns feed the size zero stuff for women. beauty products are just a joke bought by the vain, gullible and desperate. computer games - possibly some, though tomb raider and resident evil done great things to women to be more powerful, dominant and in charge - even if boys might play the games just to make the character's bottom wiggle on the TV.

that's my late night, simplistic analysis. Sue
 
1.) Are you (please circle)

Male Female


2.) Age group (please circle)

16-18 19-21 22-30 31-40 41-50 50+

3.) With the images shown below who would you class or think has the ‘idealised’ female body (please circle)

(a)

(b)


(c)


(d)


(e)


4.) In your own words what do you feel the ideal female body should look like? (such as shape, proportion, facial/body features, etc)

This is a personal thing all women's shape's are applealing, i like the fuller figure i am drawn to women who look to be good child bearers that's my honest opinion, _______________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________


4.) Who do you feel creates this idea of the perfect female body? (please circle)

The Media Women themselves Sociecty (such as men) Games


Cinema Beauty Products/Stores Other (please state) _Beauty is skin deep and i like natural beauty not made less is more >>>

Regards Mercman

this is my opinion only ________________
 
Why not.

Male
22-30
C
Ideal body = slender but not skinny, curvy but not overweight - I don't have any preferred facial features/ hair colour etc
I guess my answer has to be society - but then that encapsulates all the other answers really!!

Eddie
 
Questionnaire
The perfect female body


1.) Are you (please circle)

Male Female = Male.


2.) Age group (please circle)

16-18 19-21 22-30 31-40 41-50 50+ = 50 +

3.) With the images shown below who would you class or think has the ‘idealised’ female body (please circle)

3.) B


4.) In your own words what do you feel the ideal female body should look like? (such as shape, proportion, facial/body features, etc)

__Any shape or size,if we all looked the same it would be boring . ________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________


5.) Who do you feel creates this idea of the perfect female body? (please circle)

The Media Women themselves Sociecty (such as men) Games


Cinema Beauty Products/Stores Other (please state) ________________media and fashion sellers._
__________________
 
1) Male
2) 31-40
3) d or a for me. But then again I don't really go for the idealised woman (because there isn't one). But we are pushed to believe b,c & e are the perfect body IMO (in most cases). If bigger women were constantly in the public eye as perfect then thats what everyone would be going for.
4) There is no ideal female body. We are all different. The media magazines/newspapers etc seem to think different because it makes em loadsa money.

We are at the end of the day ANIMALS. If we were like cats and dogs etc... We would be sh*gging anything we could. We're a complicated bunch but we like to be part of the "IN" crowd.

At the end of the day everyone will have a different take on this just like everyone will have a different take on a photo that's been taken. Some like it some don't.

I'll get off my drunken soapbox now, LOL.
 
thank you for all the replies! they have been interesting to read :) once ive got enough replies. and handed out enough questionnaires etc i shall make a piechart of my findings which will help greatly to back up my arguement within my dissertation.
thanks again for everyone who replies to this!
much help

Debbie x
 
Good Luck Debbie.
 
Questionnaire
The perfect female body


1.) Are you (please circle)

Male Female


2.) Age group (please circle)

16-18 19-21 22-30 31-40 41-50 50+

3.) With the images shown below who would you class or think has the ‘idealised’ female body (please circle)



(b)
3311cindy~Cindy-Crawford-Posters.jpg


d and e are the most facially attractive though

tbh there all a bit skinny and shapless apart from D, but d has too small boobs for her size tbh.



4.) In your own words what do you feel the ideal female body should look like? (such as shape, proportion, facial/body features, etc)

I'm not sure how well written this needs to be, and I don't really understand the question, is it, what do I find attractive? Or what women should look like? Because both would have different answers to me. The ideal women that I'd find attractive would have a big bum, with a crease at the bottom, nice shaped smooth legs, not too big feet, waist should be thinner than the hips, but only by a bit, nice curved tear drop shaped boobs, nothing too big, and not too small, should be able to see ribs poking out. Facial beauty can vary, women with black features and be just as pretty as women with typical white features.


4.) Who do you feel creates this idea of the perfect female body? (please circle)

The Media Women themselves Sociecty (such as men) Games


Cinema Beauty Products/Stores Other (please state) to be honest I'm not sure, I think it's partly to do with all of the above, but the route cause I'm really not sure of, I think women themselves play a bit roll in it though.
 
D E B S T E R said:
Questionnaire
The perfect female body


1.) Are you (please circle)

Male Female


2.) Age group (please circle)

16-18 19-21 22-30 31-40 41-50 50+

3.) With the images shown below who would you class or think has the ‘idealised’ female body (please circle)

(a)
betty-grable.jpg



4.) In your own words what do you feel the ideal female body should look like? (such as shape, proportion, facial/body features, etc)

In my opinion, all a woman needs to appear to make the most of herself is to be natural.
However, if the question is regarding personal taste, I usually prefer petite, slim, yet well-proportioned women. Wide-set eyes, high cheekbones, generally symmetrical facial features.


________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


4.) Who do you feel creates this idea of the perfect female body? (please circle)

The Media Women themselves Sociecty (such as men) Games


Cinema Beauty Products/Stores Other (please state) _________________

I don't believe there's one specific answer to this. Marketing/business have taken advantage of the the fact that we're all hard-wired to find certain physical characteristics to be attractive. That, coupled with a need to conform to meet this ideal (to ensure finding a partner and so be able to procreate) are what I believe the be the main forces behind what's presented as the 'perfect female body'.
Click to expand...
 
male, 22, a/c/e.

thin, with hips, and a prevalence of lean muscle over fat, small to mid sized brests.

other: applied mathematics
 
1.) Are you (please circle)

Male Female


2.) Age group (please circle)

16-18 19-21 22-30 31-40 41-50 50+

3.) With the images shown below who would you class or think has the ‘idealised’ female body (please circle)

(c)


4.) In your own words what do you feel the ideal female body should look like? (such as shape, proportion, facial/body features, etc)

__Don't mind so long as the individual appears healthy. Thin is Ok so long as it's healthy (and so is overweight)

4.) Who do you feel creates this idea of the perfect female body? (please circle)

The Media Women themselves Sociecty (such as men) Games


Cinema Beauty Products/Stores Other (please state) ____Just try looking at vogue


I've tried to answer as honestly as possible and without looking at the other replies.

Good luck and please let us know the results of your poll, most interesting :)
 
1 Male
2 41-50
3 b and d
4 Natural. Toned but not too sculpted. Not skinny but not fat. Curvy but not bulgy.
4 (???) Advertising seems to have created the skinny look which (IMO) has done nothing for the image of "real" women who sometimes now strive towards the impossible (a woman with size 14 bones can never get down to a size 10).
 
Is there such a thing as 'size 14 bones'?????? Bones are bones, arent they? I always though 'big boned' was a poor excuse.
 
Do you think there is no variation on skeleton size?

Not only do they differ in height, they also differ in width, especially the pelvic bones.
 
1 Male
2 41-50
3 a and b
4 The 'ideal' female body....Nigella Lawson, if she was a couple of stone lighter! :LOL:
4 Depends which ideal body you're talking about... a man's idea of the ideal female body will be totally different, no doubt, to a woman's idea of the ideal female body. And there is no one answer...we all have our own perefences and ideals...which are then, no question, influenced by the media, fashion etc.
 
AliB said:
Do you think there is no variation on skeleton size?

Not only do they differ in height, they also differ in width, especially the pelvic bones.
Click to expand...


Well i would expect the bones from a taller person to be slighty wider than those of a smaller person...that stands to reason...but i very much doubt that if you took the bones from a 5'4" size 16 woman and a 5'4" size 10 woman, that the bones of the size 16 woman would account for her size.
 
gazzauk said:
Well i would expect the bones from a taller person to be slighty wider than those of a smaller person...that stands to reason...but i very much doubt that if you took the bones from a 5'4" size 16 woman and a 5'4" size 10 woman, that the bones of the size 16 woman would account for her size.
Click to expand...

Perhaps not all of it but there are genetic differences that lead some to have much wider pelvic bones than others. It's one of the reasons that forensic scientists can tell the racial origins of some human remains.
 
Ah but I am not talking about any racial differences....i'm talking about 2 womens, from, say, the same town, same racial makeup. They would NOT have different size bones that woud explain any differences in weight.
 
D E B S T E R said:
i am on my 3rd year of my ba hons photography degree and currently writing my dissertation on the female body. i am undertaking a questionnaire currently and need answers from all different people, so i thought it would be a good idea to post my questionnaire on here. it would be great to see some responses and will be extremely helpful! where it says please circle just make your answer another colour or bold or something. thank you!
Debbie x




Questionnaire
The perfect female body


1.) Are you (please circle)

Male Female


2.) Age group (please circle)

16-18 19-21 22-30 31-40 41-50 50+

3.) With the images shown below who would you class or think has the ‘idealised’ female body (please circle)


(c)
kate_moss_gypsy_xin_370.jpg






4.) In your own words what do you feel the ideal female body should look like? (such as shape, proportion, facial/body features, etc)

_Kate Moss is a top modal as she represents for most of us the ideal. She looks young & healthy.__ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


4.) Who do you feel creates this idea of the perfect female body? (please circle)

The Media Women themselves Sociecty (such as men) Games


Cinema Beauty Products/Stores Other (please state) _I see it a basic biology - women that look young & healthy are likley to be better equipped to be good mothers. Sadly we are not as evolved as we'd like to think we are._Ask yourself why rich men appear sexier to a lot of women than poor 1s do. It's all about tha abilty to kill tasty big animals, bring them home & make sure the lions don't pinch it._____________
Click to expand...
 
Just a thought Debster but are you including the phsycololical aspect of an attraction to a female? I think most men would admit (under presure) that most woman look better through a bottle (you know what I mean right?). So someone who looks a a woman and says they don't find them attractive might just take them home after a few drinks.

So to ask people to fill in this questionaire is not giving you a true assesment because it doesn't take into account the changes to a person's thought process at different times. Even without drink influence someone's perception of an attractive female will change according to mood and subconcious infuences.

You might also need to allow for the fact that some men will find a woman attractive until she speaks and then their view changes. IF you are simply looking at female form I guess it's different but then you need a lot more options to choose form than those four.

Just my opinion of course :)
 
Perhaps it really is simpler than we, humble men, actually realise.
 
Questionnaire
The perfect female body


1.) Are you (please circle)

Male

2.) Age group (please circle)

22-30

3.) With the images shown below who would you class or think has the ‘idealised’ female body (please circle)

(e)

4.) In your own words what do you feel the ideal female body should look like? (such as shape, proportion, facial/body features, etc)

Ideal female body (For me) Would be wide hips, nice bum, good legs and bra cup size a or b. I dont like the following:
big breats
overly skinny women
overly large Women
Skinny Legs
No Hips


4.) Who do you feel creates this idea of the perfect female body? (please circle)

Women themselves (Even my misses says its women! Haha)
 
AndyB said:
Just a thought Debster but are you including the phsycololical aspect of an attraction to a female? I think most men would admit (under presure) that most woman look better through a bottle (you know what I mean right?). So someone who looks a a woman and says they don't find them attractive might just take them home after a few drinks.

So to ask people to fill in this questionaire is not giving you a true assesment because it doesn't take into account the changes to a person's thought process at different times. Even without drink influence someone's perception of an attractive female will change according to mood and subconcious infuences.

You might also need to allow for the fact that some men will find a woman attractive until she speaks and then their view changes. IF you are simply looking at female form I guess it's different but then you need a lot more options to choose form than those four.

Just my opinion of course :)
Click to expand...



I understand completey what you are getting at, i realised that mens idea of this idealised female changes. However im just looking into what men (and women) feel is the idealised female look. I only done a few quick questions in which was to the point and find out what people would respond. In my dissertation i want to have a pie chart or a chart with my findings from this questionnaire, something simple and striaght forward in which would back up my arguement. For example ive noticed the older men are stating Marilyn/Betty/Cindy have a "idealised" body whereas the younger are saying its either Kate or Kiera. This isnt what im noticing just within this forum but from all my questionnaires i have recieved back so far. So as im looking into this idealised body i can then question what this ideal body is because different people have different ideas of this, this is where i can back the arguement up with my questionnaire findings. I can argue how women are suppose to achieve this "look" of this"idealised" body as technically there isnt a idealised body, as the idealised body isnt the same as the next person
 
The perfect female body


1.) Are you - Male

2.) Age group - 41-50

3.) Image - B - Cindy Crawford

4.) In Proportation - shapely - toned

5.) Society
 
I see what you're saying Debster. Will be interesting to see the results. Good luck with the disertation
 
I'd like to give my answer/opinion but the only things I could state for certain are my age & sex. The selection of women pictured to choose from represents such a tiny percentage of the available choice that I can't be arsed. b) is revolting btw.
 
1.) Are you (please circle)

Male


2.) Age group (please circle)

31-40

3.) With the images shown below who would you class or think has the ‘idealised’ female body (please circle)

(d) (kate and ms knightley are waay too boney and cinders oiled swimsuit up the fanny look is killing it for me! Who is the top one, and a front shot would be handy)

4.) In your own words what do you feel the ideal female body should look like? (such as shape, proportion, facial/body features, etc)

I think it is more about how confident a woman is with her body. If she is confident, then shape/proportion doesn't matter - Dawn French! :)


4.) Who do you feel creates this idea of the perfect female body? (please circle)

Women themselves (sorry)
 
D E B S T E R said:
1.) Are you (please circle)

Male Female


2.) Age group (please circle)

16-18 19-21 22-30 31-40 41-50 50+

3.) With the images shown below who would you class or think has the ‘idealised’ female body (please circle)

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d) Marilyn Monroe
(e)

4.) In your own words what do you feel the ideal female body should look like? (such as shape, proportion, facial/body features, etc)

Curvatious and buxom.


4.) Who do you feel creates this idea of the perfect female body? (please circle)

The Media Women themselves Sociecty (such as men) Games


Cinema Beauty Products/Stores Other (please state) _________________
Click to expand...
 
surely by picking celebrities for the majority of the pictures your allowing us to factor in character trates rather than simply on body appearance, as well as (previous mentioned by someone else) facial features so these may influence my answer just as much as the body shape does.


also arent A & D and C & E very similar, and that sample misses out lots of other body shapes and sizes
 
D E B S T E R said:
but thats something you could state in the question about what you personally feel is the "idealised" female look/body and how you feel the above photographs do not appeal to yourself
Click to expand...


by idealized do you mean what you as a person find attractive, or what you think "the media" or what ever else you think idealizes the female body has idealized.
 
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