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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   5249 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026

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Slim/attractive (they're mostly the same thing): partially driven by genetics? But still, exercise and diet go a long way here.

You can diet and exercise to be slim and as toned as necessary, but if you're horse-faced or just don't have that 'current standards of what constitutes attractive' features, it won't help. "Plain Jane" is a term, for a reason. It doesn't necessarily mean "short, fat, otherwise objectionable", mostly "not hot".

Men and women do judge things differently; yeah you'll be 20-something for ten years, but then you turn 30 from 29 and now suddenly you're a hag? Leo DiCaprio is probably the extreme here, but note his rotating list of girlfriends who get swapped out for a younger model when they age out of what he clearly deems an acceptable age range, while he continues to get older (seems he's been with the current squeeze a whole three years! Just another three years to go before she hits 30 and we'll see if the relationship continues or not).

You can diet and exercise to be slim and as toned as necessary, but if you're horse-faced or just don't have that 'current standards of what constitutes attractive' features, it won't help. "Plain Jane" is a term, for a reason. It doesn't necessarily mean "short, fat, otherwise objectionable", mostly "not hot".

In 2026 I'd submit that just being not fat actually goes a long way even if you're a bit mid facially. Obesity and interesting bodymod decisions have reshuffled the attractiveness deck a fair bit from where it would have been 50 years ago.

Consider this please: picture Sarah Jessica Parker from the first season of SaTC. Now imagine her as a fatso redneck woman. Does it not make a difference?

You can diet and exercise to be slim and as toned as necessary, but if you're horse-faced or just don't have that 'current standards of what constitutes attractive' features, it won't help.

This is just my personal opinion and there probably aren't any rigorous surveys on the topic, but I strongly disagree. Skinniness is among the largest components in a woman's attractiveness (though probably rivaled or surpassed by the skin elasticity of youth), and having a big chin or a "horse face" (or, for that matter, large breasts) pales in comparison.

This is just my personal opinion and there probably aren't any rigorous surveys on the topic, but I strongly disagree. Skinniness is among the largest components in a woman's attractiveness (though probably rivaled or surpassed by the skin elasticity of youth), and having a big chin or a "horse face" (or, for that matter, large breasts) pales in comparison.

Agreed. Unless the woman looks like the guy in "Mask," if she is fit and in her fertile years, she'll have lots of male interest.

It's an interesting fact about modern America that 99% of women can choose to have a period of 15 to 20 years in which they can make an excellent living off of their looks alone by being an exotic dancer. Or if they don't want to go that route, 99% of women can obtain a lifelong financial commitment from a man of substantial means.

99% of women can obtain a lifelong financial commitment from a man of substantial means.

This is, of course, untrue. 99% of women can probably bang a man of substantial means, but that's not the same thing at all.

Exactly. I haven't been on a dating app in a few years due to finding a wife and settling down, but a good 30-40% of the dating pool is obese or very overweight in most places. Plainness is a thing but simply being able to see your feet as a girl is generally going to get you into the 7's tier in the modern dating market if you're just a mid. Also modern medicine/surgery/makeup means a lot of the stuff that'd mark you as 'plain' 100 years ago has been reasonably combatted in modernity whilst it's comparatively difficult to hide obesity in person.

You say that now, while surrounded by fat women, but clearly in times and places where most women were thin, they weren't all equally attractive.

This is true, plus in those times there was less makeup and mild corrective/cosmetic surgery. However in 2026 skinny goes a long way

Indeed, in some past times, skinny women were being encouraged to put on some of those voluptuous, curvy pounds.

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