[twinstars]

I agree that women are harder on themselves than men are on women. It definitely seems like women's perception of the "ideal female body" is significantly thinner than what men think is ideal for women. Look at the women in Playboy. Of course they're slim, and in shape, but they look big next to the sorts of models who are usually in women's fashion magazines. Sometimes I'll be watching TV with a guy friend and he'll comment on a woman in a bikini... he'll say "she's too thin" when I think she looks really good, or just about right. I think guys don't generally prefer really scrawny women. As long as a girl isn't so big his friends would make fun of him (like fat rolls all over the place, or a disproportionately huge gut), it seems like most really do like a "normal" reasonably toned, curvy female body.