The case for why men don’t really prefer porn star bodies
In BLONDES I discuss how tall, super-skinny hipless bodies aren’t as desirable to most men as many women think. The average catwalk strutter has a body mass index of 16.5 — skinny enough to be subfertile. Among other reasons why fashion models are long and wispy is that clothes appear more striking on them than on shorter, curvy women. The industry also happens to be dominated by gay men. Fair enough. But what about porn models? Wouldn’t those gals represent the male ideal of the female form?
The answer is not really, according to Eric Holland in the latest issue of Archives of Sexual Behavior. Responding to an earlier study on the measurements of successful porn actresses, Holland, who has become a public voice for the “red-blooded” straight male, made the following points:
1. Porn stars didn’t achieve success in their profession because they have optimal bodies. Holland points out that it’s wrong to assume that just because a woman represents the feminine “ideal” just because she has made it to the top as a porn actress. Her success is attributed to more than looks alone. It may be that those who make it to the top are willing to partake in more extreme acts with more enthusiasm.
2. Women who have many sex partners, or high sociosexuality, tend to have higher testosterone levels. [*] According to Holland, many porn stars have high-testosterone “masculinized” features, e.g. a higher waist-to-hip ratio (more tubular shape), flatter backside, and stronger and more prominent jawline. Men prefer a more feminine body type, says Holland. Breast implants, airbrushing, posing, and fancy filtered lights confuse the eye because they feminize an otherwise high-testosterone look. Holland claims many top porn stars have body types that, if seen pre-op and without light tricks, would strike us as surprisingly masculine. (Focusing on stars, he fails to address the legions of poorly-paid no-name actors with unambiguously feminine body types.)
3. Playboy centerfolds are more masculine because they’re picked by a man thought to be bisexual. Hugh Hefner, the magazine’s editor-in-chief (who has a strong role in the selection process) tends to choose women with more masculine features, especially stronger jawlines. (Hefner, in his bio, has admitted to having had gay sex.) Holland claims that Hefner’s tastes aren’t necessarily those of most straight men. Holland’s photo gallery of popular “masculinized” centerfold models is here.
4. Porn actress measurements are often unreliable anyway. The stats indicate that the median BMI of popular porn stars is 18.3, which is below the threshold of a healthy body weight, whereas some studies have found that men in western societies actually prefer a BMI more like 19.5-20.5 or higher. That said, Holland claims the measurements that accompany a centerfold’s photo might not always be a true reflection of her weight. Sizing up the centerfolds’ bodies, it appears they are heavier than reported. (I describe women’s WHR and BMI in some depth in the book.)
The interesting questions, some unanswerable: Do straight men agree with Holland? To what degree are men’s tastes influenced by porn? Would a guy subtly shift his sensibilities after seeing an erotization of androgenization? Are preferences context-specific — e.g., in porn, are hard tubular bodies and fake oversized breasts hot, whereas in wives they’re not? To what extent does race matter? What does it take to be a porn star, and is there really an implicit selection process that favors more “masculinized women”? Given the range of men’s erotic tastes, which surely involve more than beauty, is Holland’s hypothesis even testable?
Only one thing is clear here: When it comes to women’s bodies, many have much to say, but there’s no clear arbiter of taste. Nor should there be.
* A reader wrote to ask for a study that supports Holland’s assertion that high testosterone in women is associated with having more sex partners. Here’s one (sorry, full-text version for subscribers only).
Straight guys: Do you agree with Holland’s points?
So why the pic of the chubbette? (lol)
mistake is to use BMI as any meaningful measure. It’s a flawed system designed by a Belgian more than a century ago who was trying to simply define body sizes. An athlete and an obese person will both peg high; a weightlifter or other bodybuilder even higher.
1) probably.
2) unproven hypothesis
3) unsupported conjecture; what bi-males want from women is not what they want from men & vice-versa
4) BMI is meaningless
To me they just look hard-faced, like many women in the porn industry – funny how that happens. Some of them it’s surgery, or makeup, but it seems to be a look they get.
I find it hard to believe this theory, or even take it seriously – i know plenty of bi men who are comfortable with their sexuality, and into feminine women and masculine men.
Ok…my personal opinion:
Regular catwalk models are horrible, then again myself and most men will find underwear models real cute due the fact that these models are more curvy look healthier and with more meat on the bones (i.e. victoria´s secret angels and such).
Now on the case of porn stars the only influence I can say it has is that it gives you ideas to try with your partner to spice things up a bit. I have never heard of friends how´d say “id like me a porn star body” what ive mostly heard is “id like a girl how´d MOVE in bed like a porn star”.
Besides most men like natural bodies (which porn stars have a tendency for plastic) and men think porn stars have bad and skanky reputations so dont forget that popular phrase “a lady on the street and a freak in the bed”.
As always, interesting and illustrative article, keep the good stuff coming!
It was not the woman that used to hold a man’s fascination. It was the mystery in her. The porn stars and catwalk twiggies are very similar, being just animated puppets, doing precisely what they are supposed to do. Most of today’s women are flint hard stereotypes and as for today’s men, they have no patience for mysteries. Is the fine art of a long pursuit dead? Mmmmm… the woman who drove me home last night…. What was her name? lolol…
I do not have much to say here, except that I am confused about the attractiveness implants. From what I have seen…it is very rare to see implants that look natural. Maybe someone can explain this one to me.
I find some implants very attractive. In fact, some implants look better than some natural breasts. Yet, I would choose a perfect pair of natural breasts before implants anyday. It’s extremely important to find a reputable cosmetic surgeon if one wishes to undergo such a procedure.
My friend has breast implants which are too large for her frame. She figures that all men prefer very large breasts so she opted for that and is thinking of getting larger ones. I did not have the heart to tell her that her plastic surgeon did not do a good job as the scars are visible, about an inch below her nipples as opposed to the crease of the breast and her nipples are positioned unaturally high. Also, I do not like the hard feel of breast implants.
The fact that most pornographic images are VERY airbrushed makes the women less appealing because they deviate so far from reality. Most men are very visual, and the more realistic the image, the more turned on they become.
I agree with you when you say that pornographic images deviate far from reality.
I’ve known plenty of men who can’t stand seeing pubic hair on a woman. Apparently, it’s not supposed to grow down there!
I will have to disagree with you on men being turned on by realistic images because realistic is that 90% of women have stretch marks, the majority of women have cellulite, less-than-perfect breasts, and pubic hair. lol
The majority of men whom I have met would take a porn star, runway or underwear model before an everyday woman.
Porn actresses are almost entirely unattractive because they represent completely false and distorted body images. Blonde hair, botox, make up, collagen injections, breast implants, fake tans… even one or two of these attributes can make someone entire unappealing in my eyes.
Hair colour isn’t really important, but a symmetrical face (distorted by collagen and botox), cleanliness (disguised by make up/fake tan), parabolic natural breasts (obliterated by implants), wide hips and a healthy weight are all aspects that I regard as ‘innate’ measurements of attractiveness. It seems almost as if porn stars go out of their way to eradicate any natural attraction you might accidentally acquire when watching them in action by making themselves as inhuman as possible.
Then, there is also the non-physical factor. When you see some of the things a porn star will do to alter their image then you have to seriously question how you could ever be attracted to them in the first place.
I don’t think cleanliness is disguised by makeup and and fake tans. They disguise skin imperfections like cellulite, scars, birthmarks, and stretch marks. Face it, no one wants to watch porn where women are all scabbed and scarred.
As much as many men like to talk about how natural they like their women, most of them do not find saggy breasts, stretch marks and cellulite attractive physcial traits on a woman. None of these conditions have anything to do with lack of hygene or cleanliness.
Porn is a highly commercialized product. As much as it is true that porn stars have appeal, their appeal is aimed at men willing to pay for this appearance. Given the widespread availability of free pornography, men willing to pay for this are almost certainly distinct from men who are not. The working conditions in the porn industry are not ideal. In addition to the social stigma associated with this kind of work, disease and drug use is rampant. Women involved in porn are probably involved for reasons that would make it less likely to find healthy, attractive women.
Just stumbled upon this, not going to add my two cents, but very interesting post.
My friend has fake boobs, botox and she’s too skinny. She wonders why men look at me more than her.
I know what you mean. Both my friend and I are skinny, except that my friend is unfortunately skinny due to an eating disorder. She used to be bulimic at one point in her life and now she’s the opposite. She doesn’t completely starve herself, but she doesn’t eat adequately.
She was under the impression that once she dyed her hair blonde, lost a lot of weight, got breast implants and got a tan that men would look at her and not me. I really could care less who gets stared at the most. (It’s not that I do not believe in healthy competition but I really don’t care to compete over who gets the most attention.)I just wish she had a healthier body image and attitude. Doesn’t help that her mom would always tell her that she was fat and disgusting when she used to be curvier. Her sister has been bulimic for a few years now.
[...] The case for why men don’t really prefer porn star bodies In BLONDES I discuss how tall, super-skinny hipless bodies aren’t as desirable to most men as many women think. [...] [...]
I’m sorry, but I can’t take Eric Holland seriously. He’s a deranged pseudo scientist at best.
FANTASTIC!
“Her success is attributed to more than looks alone. It may be that those who make it to the top are willing to partake in more extreme acts with more enthusiasm.”
dont buy it at all. there are just too many actresses these days for that to be true. the variety of women, different fetishes and preferences for body types is all catered to in this massive and diverse market, even milf/gilf porn exists. and men DO choose based on looks, if extreme behavior was the only measure then every girl would be max hardcore standard, and that is clearly not the case. as said by a previous poster, sounds like pseudo science at best. you cannot make broad generalizations about anything from porn except that men like looking at sex/naked women. sure you can spew old dogma about body images,unrealistic this or that…but the reality does not back up the old feminist dogma. from amateur to just plain fat or ugly, it exists now in porn if you want it, u got it. buxom, and even flat as a board. your choice. in any case the fear for other womens self worth is a bit patronizing. if women are being tricked into thinking that flat as a board run way models are male ideals, then the same claim is made about buxom porn actresses, somethings wrong with the dogma.
I wish I could write this well! great blog thanks.
tom,
You’re correct that there’s a lot of nonsense written about porn by people with very little personal knowledge. In fact, it’s one of those strange areas where most of what’s said about it in public is not just said by unknowledgeable people, but people who believe their lack of personal experience makes their position even stronger.
Nevertheless, you seem to have missed the point. Of course looks matter. All things being equal, the best looking bondage models will have an advantage. But that is not the point. The comparison is not between one bondage model and another but between sex/fashion industry women and women who do not work in the sex/fashion industry. What needs to be explained is why industry women do not look like the non-industry women that men repeatedly and reliably see as attractive.
The explanation seems pretty straightforward. Porn is a dangerous, degrading and stigmatizing place for a woman to work. Women end up in porn because they have a troubled life. We’re not selecting from the top of the pyramid here.
I thought that porn stars were required to have that look in order to be more successful. I know plenty of men who love the tan, breast implant, platinum blonde look. I’ve even had one man say that his future wife will look that way one day.
There are 2 problems here. One of them is the judged physical beauty of porn stars. But that’s a really simple problem and the answer is clear. These are generally not good looking women and if you didn’t know they were porn stars, I doubt you’d look at them and think they were beautiful. The second problem is more complex. Men ‘choose’ women (like other consumer products) for all kinds of reasons other than just judgments of physical beauty. what’s going through your friend’s head when he says this, I can hardly imagine, but I doubt it’s got a lot to do with their physical beauty.
I don’t doubt your friend and many other men desire women that look like porn stars. After all, that’s the look of profession sex film industry workers. They are marketed as the hottest, most desirable sex partners. It’s perfectly understandable that some men want this. But the reality is that that’s what porn workers look like and everyone knows it. It’s a manufactured look, a product if you will, that the porn industry has created from the raw material they have to work with. And that raw is generally speaking not selected from the cream of the crop.
We all know we live in a sex-soaked society. So why do we continually stick their heads in the sands and pretend that pornography isn’t a huge problem in the destruction of relationships?
When polled anonymously, over 50% of pastors admit to struggling with pornography. We’re not talking about priests who have taken a vow of celibacy these are married men. If pastors are struggling in such great numbers, how much more of a problem is it with regular guys? Is there any hope of restoring the natural romantic pursuit of a real woman?
There is a book that just released this month that deals with pornography and men in a very frank and direct manner. The title is ‘Real Sex Doesn’t Come from a Website: The Rewards of Pursuing Your Wife’ by author Andrew K. Fox.
You can read read the first chapter in the book free, just go to http://www.realsexrewards.com.
Tom, I am not one to defend pornography, but who cares what 50% of pastors have to say? Really, who cares? This probably says more about the kind of person who becomes a pastor than it does about pornography.
The biggest issue with pornography is that really, no one knows much about it. Almost everything written on it is written from a moral point of view by feminist and Christian activists or is fan material written to provide information and titilation to viewers. Nothing meaningful is known about distribution, how marketing decisions are made, or about the lives of people involved. Sure, everyone knows all the myths created by the interest groups that produce all the writing about it, but it’s very hard to get the kind of information a government would need to make real policy.
And this crap about the sexual problems of Christian leaders sure doesn’t help.
The only reason there is a reference to pastors is from the standpoint of what they would have to lose should their addiction become public, namely everything. I would think that this fear would give them a greater need to keeps thing normal. Average guys have no such pressure in their lives so how many more are into and or struggling to get out of a porn addiction.
The book I mentioned doesn’t “preach” about the “evils” of porn but challenges guys to make the real woman you live with everyday the object of your passion not some fantasy you see in a video or picture.
My guess is that most men are too lazy or scared to do this though. It’s a whole lot easier to view some porn and masturbate than it is to work at pursuing your wife and risking the chance of rejection. Alot of the porn industry’s business would dry up if we as men would just man up!
Great dude!Now I know what the things that I should observe inorder to identify if a women have big experience about sex.
I hate the porn industry period. It gives men (and women) the wrong idea of how one should act in bed. I can not tell you how many times I hear couples complain about how dissappointing it was to find out that one of them couldn’t perform an act the other saw in a porn clip or picture. The men complain that the woman isn’t wild enough or raunchy enough, and the women complain that the man isn’t as zealous or romantic enough. It is sad to hear this that couple EXPECT their mate to act or do certain things in bed. It defeats the purpose of sex. Not to mention some go to far as to “make” or ‘take” another forcefully thinking this is how sex is. It is very heartbreaking.
TOm, I’m a little confused by your comment. In your initial post, you describe pastors as, “struggling with pornography”. In your moire recent remark it’s transfomed into “an addiction”. There are lots of things I struggle with, but am I addicted to them? Hardly.
You’re tying really hard to make your comments seem like they’re not connected to religious beliefs. It may be that pornography has effects on people that damage their lives and society. I can’t really say, since there’s not very much meaningful information known. One thing I can say is that there are Christians involved in the anti-porn movement who are committed to the idea that it takes a hold of people’s lives and destroys them. Would it surprise me that church pastors also believe this and hope that they share this struggle even though they are spiritual leaders? Not at all.
We have now have a lot of opinions about porn. Frankly, I’d like to know what it’s really about.
I look at porn and i can see that the taste of the white male population has been manipulated to “prefer” the skinny blonde. If you look at the older porn circa1940-1950 you will see many more dark haired women with realistic bodies
i think this is because of the gay influence in all the visual media, hollywood, print etc.
this has even leaked over to Black porn,even though the black women tend to reflect the taste of black men i.e. bigger women
Someone should conduct a study to determine whether men who view pornography stray from their wives more due to an acquired dissatisfaction, or less because the pornography becomes an outlet for that very compulsion.
As for this article, it should really refer to the “celebrity pornstar” or “porn starlett” or something, because if we want to talk about pornography in general, we have to acknowledge that all ages, hair colors, ethnicities, and body types are represented in pornography today, as is easily verified by a quick google search.
The point of talk about “differnt kinds of porn” seems to be that this diversity reflects market demand for different ages, hair colors, ethnicities, and body types. The implication of this is that the porn industry gets to choose who it uses as models instead of using what it has in a way that can make it money. The same is true for “celebrity pornstar” or “porn starlett”. The industry works with who it has to work with. There’s a reason why porn is full of beaten up drug addicts and not fitness instructors.