To spark further open discourse about this topic, and to feed my own fervent need to find out interesting background information about others, I've composed a short survey that I'd just love for everyone to answer in the comments section. Answer as many as you'd like. I'm answering them too. Here goes:
1. What is your favorite physical feature? (you can list more than one)
2. What is your least favorite physical feature? (you can also list more than one)
3. What, if given the chance, would you change about your appearance? (you can list more than one thing)
4. In what shape would you categorize your body as? (for example: athletic, medium build, out of shape, chubby, skinny, pear shaped, apple shaped, curvaceous, lean, etc)
5. Was there a time in your life when you liked your appearance more than the present moment?
6. Was there a time in your life when you liked your appearance less than the present moment?
7. What is your favorite physical feature in a woman?
8. What is your favorite physical feature in a man?
9. What is your physical "dealbreaker" in terms of a prospective romantic interest?
10. Who, (celebrity, athlete, model, actual person you know) if anyone, has an ideal figure to you? (Men and women can answer in terms of either males or females here)
11. In what ways do you feel limited by your body?
12. Do you plan to "age gracefully" or attempt to fight the visible signs of the aging process?
13. If you have a significant other, are you happy with their physiques? If you're single, have you been happy with past exes' physiques?
14. Would you categorize your relationship to food as "eating to live" or "living to eat"?
15. Do you have an "dream" body weight or size? If so, what is it?
Please everyone answer!
1. If I had to choose a very favorite feature, I’d say my eyes. I don’t mind various other body parts, of course… my legs, my stomach, my feet/ankles, my hair. I’ve been told recently I have a nice “donk,” but I really don’t see it that often, so I can’t say for sure.
ReplyDelete2. Hmm, I could really go on about my least favorite physical features. I basically dislike anything that shows the physical signs/side effects of losing weight… (stretch marks, cellulite, skin that isn’t as tight as I’d like it to be). Also my inner/upper thighs.
3. I’ve thought about plastic surgery a lot… I’ve been told I could get a nose job (since it’s been broken), but I can’t say that’s a priority for me. I’ve fantasized (grotesquely) about having all my wobbly bits taken out by liposuction, and maybe a boob job (not porn star inflatable tits, of course).
4. Well, I’m certainly not in the best physical shape I’ve ever been in (in terms of exercising) but I guess I’d categorize myself as medium sized with an hourglass/curvy/womanly/proportionate figure.
5. Sadly, yes. When I lived in Nantucket the summer after graduating NYU I was about ten pounds lighter and in much better physical condition than I am at present moment. Womp womp…
6. Certainly. I was much bigger than I am now the last two years of high school and the first two years of college. I feel I’ve come a long way.
7. I notice a woman’s overall figure first, then her face (mainly her eyes, lips, cheekbones).
8. In a man I love nice eyes, a good jaw line, broad shoulders, his smile, and his ass.
9. I really cannot think of any physical dealbreakers instead of bad body odor right now…
10. For an ideal male figure: Paul Walker; Female: Blake Lively
11. I feel limited by my physical strength and aerobic capabilities. I want to be able to really challenge my body the way I should be able to at this age.
12. Age is a tricky thing to talk about… I feel that women are held to a different societal standard (in terms of the visible signs of aging) than men are. I can’t say for sure what I’ll decide to do, because I know that in another twenty years there will be many more scientific advances that may be too tempting to pass up. Basically, the jury’s still out on this one…
13. Yes, I am quite happy with my significant other’s body. Beyond the look of him, I just like the way he feels—I like his weight on top of me, his hands touching me… and various other things I won’t go on about here.
14. I would say that, for the most part, I eat to live, though I do have a very complex/obsessive compulsive relationship with food.
15. The thing about “dream” weights is that, once you reach them, it’s not guaranteed that you’ll magically be 100% satisfied. So, though my sick/masochistic side would like to say 107 pounds and a size 0, I know that’s clearly not healthy for my height. I guess my “dream” size would simply be whatever I felt most comfortable/active at.
1. favorite: brain. ok, ok, my favorite visible-from-the-outside feature would probably my eyes. I also like my arms and legs, as general as that is.
ReplyDelete2. least favorite: parts that are in pain or don't function. And if I had to pick, then I guess I'd say my second toes (the index fingers of the feet) just because they're weird looking, but even those I kind of like for being so freakish.
3. what I'd change: probably slim up around the belly/love handle region. getting back in shape - more cardio. It'd also be nice to have a bit more upper body strength.
4. well, I'm not as athletic as I once was (sigh), but still medium build I guess with the look of a once-more-active soccer/tennis/basketball player faded by cubicle sitting and lackluster (and a little embarrassing) infrequent exercise.
5. a time when I liked my appearance more: perhaps toward the end of high school, I was in much better shape, playing sports constantly and living off glorious, youthful metabolism.
6. a time when I liked my appearance less: the early part of college when drinking, not exactly nutritional buffett-style dining hall cuisine, long chicago winters of inactivity, and the peak of my acne all collided, I imagine I could not have looked all that pretty. But overall, I've generally been happy with my appearance even through my lows.
7. in women, the face- (eyes, lips, nose), breasts, the neck into the shoulders and upper back/shoulder blades, hair, hips, and ass.
8. in men, the face- (eyes, jawline), legs, and arms
9. if anything is a dealbreaker, I guess it would have to be the face (or something in the face).
10. ideal figure is actually kind of hard to pin down, because I find myself liking a lot of different types. In women, anything from petite: Mila Kunis to skinnier: Jarah Mariano to athletic: Nicky Whelan, Jessica Biel to longer: Emmanuelle Chiqri, Catherine Zeta-Jones to curvier: Scarlett Johansson, Salma Hayek. And yeah, Bethany's right, Blake Lively (esp. after watching Green Lantern). Too many! In men, anything from the leaner Fight Club versions of Brad Pitt and Edward Norton to the more normal Paul Rudd.
11. I'm lacking a bit on flexibility, some upper body strength and overall fitness.
12. "age gracefully", while trying to stay healthy overall
13. I'm very happy with my significant other's physique, looks and feel.
14. Probably both living to eat and eating to live. I love food, but I don't always put a lot of effort into making sure it's the best or the most exotic or healthiest or combinations therein.
15. Probably a bit lighter, a bit leaner, but it doesn't worry me too much that I'm often not in that physical state.
Thanks for answering all 15, Daniel! I loved reading this. I'm completely aware that some of my questions were borderline ridiculous and nosey, but, well... that was kind of the point. I loved the honesty!
ReplyDeleteFUCK YOU BLOGPOST. I just wrote my whole thing out and it ate it you fucking fucker.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, if these are curt, that's why.
1. I like my skin and hair, because they've been super low maintenance for pretty much my whole life, and I don't like maintaining.
2. My least favorite parts of my body are the usual: tummy, thighs, etc. General hot spots of fat accumulation.
3. If I could change something by magic, it would be mystic lipo on the spots referenced in 2, but I'm not into the lipo that then means fat will redistribute itself irregularly over the rest of my body.
4. I'd say my body is comfortably out of shape. I don't think I'm especially curvy, and certainly not thin, but mostly comfortable.
5. Over the last two years or so I've bounced between being more and less happy with my body. The best SHAPE I was in was probably in middle school, and I'm not real interested in looking like that again.
6. See 5. I've been generally pretty comfortable in my body, but my lowest points were probably high school, when I stopped playing sports and started having hormones.
7. I really like women's back/neck areas. And side boob.
8. On men I really like the line sort of down from the hip. Not the crease at the top of the leg, but sort of the bottom corner of the abs. See this link http://www.squidoo.com/Chris-Hemsworth about a third down.
9. My dealbreakers include faces that don't "click" for me, and extremes of either direction: really fat or scary muscly.
10. My preferred male celebrity bodies are Jake Gyllenhaal and Chris Hemsworth (see above link) in his less pec-y incarnations. Female-wise, there is just really an unreasonable selection, because it's almost a requirement for lady celebrities to be banging. But I will see your Blake Lively and raise you one Leighton Meester. Also, slightly different direction, but Rihanna is fine.
11. Parkour is the perfect example of my frustrations with my body. I want to be able to tell it to do something have it just do it. Not like fly, but just jump over a fence or something.
12. I plan to age gracefully while fighting the signs of aging by working out and eating healthily. My plan is not working out very well.
13. I'm very satisfied with my significant other's body. He's the first of this body type that I've dated.
14. I love food a lot. I like really good food, and I also like junk food. It's very important to me, though it's not the only vice I like to indulge.
15. I'd love to drop a few pounds, but I'd rather stay my current weight (or even weigh a little more) and trade my mooshiness for svelt awesomeness.
This is Matt, Iraq internet sucks and won't let me sign in.
ReplyDelete1) I have big shoulders, I guess that's good.
2) I never have abs, even when I drop weight and am working out a shitload a six-pack is not possible.
3) This is kinda of a cop-out but I broke my foot like 6 years ago and the doctor didn't catch it on the x-ray. It hurts like hell when I perform the tasks required by my job and makes me walk kind of funny, so I'd fix that.
4) Stocky
5/6) Nope, I've always found flaws with my appearance and thus I am always equally happy/unhappy with it.
7) Eyes. I'm with Rie on side-boob too.
9) Really fucked up teeth.
10) There are so many different celebrities/models that I believe have ideal bodies, many of which have severely differing body types, thus, I have no idea how to answer this one.
11) I am not flexible, nor am I fast.
12) The only thing that will bother me about aging is if I start going bald. Otherwise I think I'll just get better looking as I age and will do so with the grace of a dove or some more graceful animal that I can't think of right now.
13) I'm not touching this one.
14) I like food.
15) I could stand to lose 4 maybe 5 pounds.
1. What is your favorite physical feature? (you can list more than one)
ReplyDeleteMy eyes.
2. What is your least favorite physical feature? (you can also list more than one)
Dick (grew up hating it because it's uncircumcised). Followed by stomach.
3. What, if given the chance, would you change about your appearance? (you can list more than one thing)
Throughout the years I would've said circumcision. I still might, but I've become less interested in it over the past few years. But other then that, I would say either a realistic transformation of my body into the lean, muscular physique of an athlete or the unrealistic total transformation of my face to change me into a more attractive person, like Brad Pitt or James Dean.
4. In what shape would you categorize your body as? (for example: athletic, medium build, out of shape, chubby, skinny, pear shaped, apple shaped, curvaceous, lean, etc)
I would say I am genetically pretty lean and skinny, but I've been pushing my genetic luck over the years, and I think I'm starting to gain weight and grow slovenly-looking. I am rather disgusted with my body a great majority of the time, although I'm aware that I was blessed with being pretty thin despite my at-times gargantuan food intake.
5. Was there a time in your life when you liked your appearance more than the present moment?
Yes--when I was a regular long-distance runner in high school. I actually had pretty close to a six-pack. I felt much more confident being shirtless then.
6. Was there a time in your life when you liked your appearance less than the present moment?
I've probably looked worse when I was in the middle of drug or alcohol binges, but at the time I really didn't give a fuck since I was so wrapped-up in that. I would say probably in the early years of my adolescence, and certainly when I had to worry about things like acne on a regular basis, I liked my appearance less then I do now.
7. What is your favorite physical feature in a woman?
Face. Followed by ass, the legs, and the midsection.
8. What is your favorite physical feature in a man?
ReplyDeleteI would say probably the midsection (i.e., the combination of abs, chest, and back). This is why, controversially, I consider the male upper body to be more aesthetically pleasing (for nonsexual reasons) than the female's.
9. What is your physical "dealbreaker" in terms of a prospective romantic interest?
Well, other then the obvious of them having an attractive face, I would say no cankles, not chubby (especially the legs/lower body), and that's about all I can think of as of now.
10. Who, (celebrity, athlete, model, actual person you know) if anyone, has an ideal figure to you? (Men and women can answer in terms of either males or females here)
Men: James Dean, Brad Pitt (not Johnny Depp), Robert Redford, Paul Newman, Kurt Cobain, Ricky Nelson.
Women: See all the women I posted in this post: http://demonsinmybritches.blogspot.com/2011/05/why-i-love-golden-age-hollywood.html. In addition, Eva Green, Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Alba, Kate Winslet in her prime, Angelina Jolie in her prime, Naomi Watts, Katy Perry (I like her more than her doppelganger, Zooey Deschanel, because--DUH--Katy Perry is about a zillion times less pretentious and isn't an indie-hipster-emo wet dream (because those three things are all the same, right?), and Anne Hathaway.
11. In what ways do you feel limited by your body?
In many different ways. I'm limited athletically, especially whenever I'm out of shape, but certainly humans cannot hope to compete with other animals in terms of physical feats of strength. I think, as most other people think, that because of my own sexual attractiveness level, I am limited into a "bracket" of women that I can or can't get. The biggest limitation is obviously death. I have to rush against time to get all the things done I want to get done in a time frame that equals roughly a century (that'd be pretty cool to live to be a century old...my great-grandmother did it).
12. Do you plan to "age gracefully" or attempt to fight the visible signs of the aging process?
Age gracefully, but work out and live healthy to fight the aging process in a natural way. Plus to use anti-aging grooming products, but I wouldn't go so far as surgery ever (or at least I think not right now...can't ever say ever as I've learned).
13. If you have a significant other, are you happy with their physiques? If you're single, have you been happy with past exes' physiques?
Yes, I'm definitely happy with my significant other's physique.
14. Would you categorize your relationship to food as "eating to live" or "living to eat"?
I would say "eating to live." This is probably because of my ambivalent relationship towards food because of my unwanted attraction towards binge eating and the guilt and shame I feel because of this.
15. Do you have an "dream" body weight or size? If so, what is it?
I can't really say a dream body weight, although I guess I do have a size in mind. Like I said earlier, just a lean, athletic physique. For men, it's kinda hard to say a low weight, since muscle weighs more than fat. So ideally I would be the same weight as now, or bigger, but with a body-fat percentage under 10%.