# Upper Class Taste On Beauty And WORKING CLASS Taste On Beauty?



## trapped (Jul 30, 2015)

Don't mean to be stereotypical or to stereotype anyone but stereotypes do exist for a reason. Why are there a lot of WORKING CLASS Men who like curvy girls meanwhile on the other end of the spectrum there are a lot of UPPER CLASS Men that like skinny girls? Just curious. There are studies and researches about these too that I cannot remember anymore.




Good Day Gents irate:


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## Gurdon (Feb 7, 2005)

Paul Fussell's book Class, while somewhat dated, might be a start. Also, the Preppie Handbook might be interesting. There have been discussions of this topic on Ask Andy. If you search the archives under related topics you can read what people have had to say on subjects related to class origins and preferences.

Molloy's book How to Dress for Success advised those looking for corporate success in the 1970's to emulate the clothing and lifestyle of the East Coast establishment, ie. preppies.

Hope this is helpful,
Gurdon


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

Probably more a lack of options than genuine preferences.

I have been involved in a lifelong study endeavouring to ascertain a relative index between breast size and kindheartedness in females, the results are conclusive but not wishing to annoy any of my fellow members I elect to keep them to myself.


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## SG_67 (Mar 22, 2014)

Tom Buchanan liked fat chicks.


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## Langham (Nov 7, 2012)

It's an interesting question, but I'm not sure the trained eye can always assess with any precision a person's station in life by his choice of girlfriend.


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## Wolfslair (Sep 11, 2014)

Originally the slang term "shmoe" was a derivative of the yiddish shmuck. Today a shmoe is a man who's fetish is paying female wrestlers or bodybuilders to overpower and physically dominate them. It is funny what gets some guys motor running.


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## Concordia (Sep 30, 2004)

Evolutionary theory makes a stab at this. 

At the bottom end of society, one looks for signs of unexpected affluence, and ability to weather the odd financial storm. Not to mention giving birth and feeding the offspring well. 

At the upper end, one looks a lack of need for such things, which by itself is a signal of a greater measure of success.


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## OrdinaryGuy2005 (Aug 9, 2014)

Shaver said:


> I have been involved in a lifelong study endeavouring to ascertain a relative index between breast size and kindheartedness in females, the results are conclusive but not wishing to annoy any of my fellow members I elect to keep them to myself.


If you had the data, I would be interested in seeing it graphed. I'd also be interested in how you obtained the measurements.



Concordia said:


> Evolutionary theory makes a stab at this.
> 
> At the bottom end of society, one looks for signs of unexpected affluence, and ability to weather the odd financial storm. Not to mention giving birth and feeding the offspring well.
> 
> At the upper end, one looks a lack of need for such things, which by itself is a signal of a greater measure of success.


Well put. Related to this, I think that curvaceous women present a more obvious sort of attraction, whereas thinner women present as perhaps having more nuanced investments than simply their sex appeal.

This is a pretty broad generalization for the sake of creating a distinction.. I personally find both body types attractive.


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

OrdinaryGuy2005 said:


> If you had the data, I would be interested in seeing it graphed. I'd also be interested in how you obtained the measurements.


Oh, you know... being well dressed, well mannered, well groomed, well spoken, well educated, the ladies come a-flocking.


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## Balfour (Mar 23, 2012)

Shaver said:


> Oh, you know... being well dressed, well mannered, well groomed, well spoken, well educated, the ladies come a-flocking.


Modest as ever, old boy.

Good to be back.

B.


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## Chouan (Nov 11, 2009)

Shaver said:


> Oh, you know... being well dressed, well mannered, well groomed, well spoken, well educated, the ladies come a-flocking.


Indeed they do, I had the same bloody trouble about two nights ago. I come in, about half past eleven at night. I come in, I get into bed, you see, feeling quite sleepy. I could feel the lids of me eyes beginning to droop, you see - a bit of droop in the eyes. I was about to drop off when suddenly - tap, tap, tap at the bloody window pane. I looked out. You know who it was? Bloody Greta Garbo. Bloody Greta Garbo, stark naked save for a shortie nightie, hanging on to the window sill, and I could see her knuckles all white, saying "Peter, Peter". You know how those bloody Swedes go on.


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## Balfour (Mar 23, 2012)

[I have redacted this post on the basis that the post it responded has been removed by the mods.]


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## moltoelegante (Sep 23, 2015)

Balfour said:


> And you condemn yourself by the expression of your vulgarity. Really.


Out of curiosity... to whom was that comment addressed?


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## Balfour (Mar 23, 2012)

moltoelegante said:


> Out of curiosity... to whom was that comment addressed?


.....


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## moltoelegante (Sep 23, 2015)

Balfour said:


> Moltovolgare.


Well, there's nothing more vulgar than an _ad hominem_ attack, so perhaps you should think about what an ass you are making of yourself.


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## Balfour (Mar 23, 2012)

moltoelegante said:


> Well, there's nothing more vulgar than an _ad hominem_ attack, so perhaps you should think about what an ass you are making of yourself.


.....


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## clark_kent (Aug 26, 2015)

Very interesting question. 

I don't think the answer can be nailed down to one particular cause as several factors come into play.

Ultimately, "beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.."! I personally love curvy women and even asked about the lack of them in the trad girlfriend thread. 

On a final note, in America the general consensus of beauty tends to lean towards skinny. Curvy women don't seem to get as much "love" from the media.


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## ajo (Oct 22, 2007)

Growing up in Oz and in particular the 60's/70's in the Eastern Suburbs in Sydney the class divides were very evident, more so on the North Shore. The 1980's changed that a lot, I believe that nowadays its more a matter of the cultivation of taste and style (and the required pay packet to pull it off) to a large degree for a lot of people. 

Style transcends class if you ask me as its an acquired cultivated process that takes time, curiosity about the world and understanding the refinements of life and how they work in your social milieu and situations you find yourself in. And Manners, good manners will take you anywhere.


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## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

Balfour and Molto, stop it now. Any snarky post from either of you will result in an infraction.

I've deleted the picture.


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## Chouan (Nov 11, 2009)

Just to put my earlier post into context......


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## vpkozel (May 2, 2014)

OrdinaryGuy2005 said:


> If you had the data, I would be interested in seeing it graphed. I'd also be interested in how you obtained the measurements.


I can't speak for Shaver but I definitely prefer to take measuremnets by hand.....


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## Dhaller (Jan 20, 2008)

I don't think you can actually apply class as a strong predictor of aesthetic preference.

Obviously, the rich have better diets (not a lot of processed starches. etc) so there's a lack of obesity, but the idea that rich men like model-thin women just isn't true (and I say this preferring model-thin *myself*); I know plenty of executives and folks with aristocratic heritage who like a solid woman.

I think the notion that "rich likes thin" is a media artifact from, mostly, the fashion industry, just because that's what models the high-priced couture lines (I don't recall who coined the phrase, but the ideal is a model "who is a living coat hanger" for the clothes). Folks see media depictions of high fashion, basically all willowy models, and decides that this must be the classy look.

I think if there IS a class which prefers "willowy", it's the Fusselian "Class X" - your progressive, educated, high-income middle class. My neighborhood is a Class X neighborhood - all professors, tech folks, and physicians with tons of yoga studios, Teslas, and organic bodegas - and all the women are tall and skinny (and, it must be added, white). Like, almost to the exclusion of all else, Stepford-style. Drive a few miles north to where the craftsman cottages turn into neoclassical mansions, and the women become more cross-sectional.

Your correlation is an illusion!

DH


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## ajo (Oct 22, 2007)

Feminine body shape and its public perception has changed and keeps changing mainly due to advertising and the cultural implications of that. Personally I prefer a full Marilyn Monroe body to the stick insects that you see walking the catwalks today. But then that is what couture wants, walking coat hangers.


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## 215339 (Nov 20, 2012)

For me it depends on how hungry I am!

I find when I'm more hungry, I'm much more likely to notice curvier women.


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## drlivingston (Jun 21, 2012)

Too broad of subject matter with far too many variables. Even if you are restricting the test group to, say, the USA. Different ethnic groups prefer different body types. Different races like different body types. When you factor in socio-economic diversity, you take one step closer to data chaos. I know wealthy guys who like voluptuous women. And I know wealthy guys who like the size 0 chicks. It's just far too random.


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## efdll (Sep 11, 2008)

If one takes media images as indicators, there are swings in tastes at different moments. Some decades show very skinny women as sex goddesses, though I also suspect it's the drugs. Right now there's a wide range, which could be due to appealing to different socioeconomic, ethnic and age strata. Before anyone (well, maybe not so much in this male forum) argues this is the objectification of women, consider how this is also true of men. Few leading men today are not gym-sculpted, while in older films when a matinee idol took off his shirt even the powerfully built were not ripped. However, the latter always looked better in suits. As for women, in a film as explicitly (and comically) class conscious as The Philadelphia Story, Katherine Hepburn, though far from curvaceous, is meant to look quite appealing in a swimsuit to the competing males. By the time the film was remade as High Society, Grace Kelly was a synthesis. A blonde ice queen who played a society woman, but totally scrumptious and always with a strong undercurrent of sexual heat.


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## clark_kent (Aug 26, 2015)

Race certainly is a factor, but again there will always be people who don't conform to what's expected.

I think evolution can really answer a big chunk of this question though. Why would a thick woman appeal to someone of the working class? Why would a slim woman appeal to someone of the upper class?

"Working" class might more likely fall into blue collar where the size would be helpful. A woman's duties in a working class home might include cleaning and cooking on her own while also having a job. In an upperclass home, there could be a maid who handles such tasks so the woman might not need such a big frame. 

It will be interesting to gather a small data just amongst ourselves and see where we stand at least; not that our small sample pool represents everyone else. 

So, what type, between the two women, are you into?

Where do you fall - upperclass or working class?

I'll start:

I prefer thick
I fall into working class (at the moment)


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## SG_67 (Mar 22, 2014)

Even by the standards of the interchange, this has to be one of the most ridiculous threads ever started.


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

SG_67 said:


> Even by the standards of the interchange, this has to be one of the most ridiculous threads ever started.


But less ridiculous than several of the threads we are treated to on the main fora these days......


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## SG_67 (Mar 22, 2014)

Shaver said:


> But less ridiculous than several of the threads we are treated to on the main fora these days......


I can't argue with you on that point.


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