What Is The Ideal Male Body Type For Women On Dating Sites?

What Is The Ideal Male Body Type For Women On Dating Sites?

The ideal male body type for women on dating sites is "average." Women may dream of fit body types, but the reality is very different. Yep, a study found women are open to dating men with average body types.

It's not easy choosing your body type if you're not in great shape. On many apps, you're asked to fill in your "body type."

Plentyoffish gives men the following choices for their body type:

• Prefer Not To Say
• Thin
• Athletic
• Average
• A Few Extra Pounds
• Big & Tall/BBW

Don't ever put "prefer not to say." It looks like you're hiding something.

Match.com has the following male body types to choose from:

• Slender
• About average
• Athletic and toned
• Heavyset
• A few extra pounds
• Stock

The body type entries vary across the dating apps, but you can see how they are labeled similarly. Men need to be honest with themselves when filling out this section in their dating profile.

With all the options available, “what is the ideal body type women prefer in online dating?” The results of one study provide insight into the physique women prefer.

Which Body Type Do Women Prefer?

The study, Internet Daters' Body Type Preferences: Race–Ethnic and Gender Differences, wanted to determine how selective women were to body types. It also analyzed the ideal male body type women preferred.

Over 5800 dating profiles were examined in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City. The daters were between 18-50 years old and were comprised of women and men.  For the sake of this post, we’ll examine which body type women desired most.

The regions were chosen because of the ethnic diversity in those areas. The study compared the body type preferences for dates between African Americans, Asians, Latinos, and whites in the United States.

The study grouped male body types into four broad categories:

1. Small – All selections of slim and slender were considered “small.”
2. Average – Average was defined as “average.”
3. Athletic – Fit and athletic body types were defined as “athletic.”
4. Large – Extra, large, curvy, and voluptuous were defined as “large.”

Study Discovers The Ideal Male Body Type

According to the study, 78% of daters had a body type preference. Men and women were both likely to have some preference for the body type. Among all race-ethnic groups, at least 75% of the daters expressed a body type preference for dates.

Men are the most critical when it comes to body types. Men are 5 times more likely than women to prefer only to date those with thin or toned bodies.

The study found women may be interested in dating men with the ideal body type but were actually open to other body types.

In the study, 1,865 out of the 2,165 women who participated wanted men with fit/athletic bodies. The study found 6% of the women said they wanted men with fit bodies, but only 13% of that group would stick to their guns and ONLY date men with a fit body type. It shows most women say they want dates with great bodies but are open to men with less than ideal body types.

Other findings of the study were:

• Non-white female daters are no more likely than white female daters to prefer a preference for a date’s body type.
  
  
• African-American, Asian, and Latino women are just as likely as white women to prefer the fit athletic body ideal for potential male dates. Previous research found that African-American and Latina women accept heavier body types when discussing their own bodies. They are less impacted by mainstream media than white women. These women are more satisfied with their bodies and less constrained to the thin ideal body type.
  
  
• Women also don’t specify a body type when looking for a partner as often as men. The study theorized women might be timid about expressing preferences or feel it is not socially acceptable to place too much value on the body.

Final Thoughts

It should come as no surprise the study found men were 3.5 times more likely than women to have body preference types. Fit/athletic women are open to dating men with male body types other than "fit."

The ideal male body type isn't as important to women. Yes, women dream about dating a fit, athletic, ripped, Men's Health Cover model type of body. But the study showed women are open to other body types as well, especially non-white women.

Some women will generally tell you in their profiles that they want only athletic body types. You see it all the time:

Don’t let this scare you off. You can still raise a woman's interest with confidence, humor, and being assertive. I certainly do.

I'm in average shape but am confident and have a good sense of humor. These traits allow me to date a lot of super-fit women.

What if you're aren't thin or fit? Put average as your body type.

"Average" is PROVEN to be an acceptable male body type for women. If you're in good shape, by all means, state it. However, if you're a little heavy, select "average" instead..

Lastly, you can do one sneaky trick in your photos to make yourself hotter with women. Check out my blog post How To Be More Physically Attractive To Women With One Photo.