See the thing is, no matter how much we (I) make fun of the football boys jock stereotype type, I give them their due because they are athletes. So unless you are on a strict regime whereby you must consume over 3000 calories a day not because you are gluttonous but because your muscles and body depend on your caloric intake to survive, you are no athlete and thus not athletic. We can't just start lowering standards because everyone else around us can't measure up to the standards. That's Madness!

Or whatever--as long as you are not fat it's all good.

I agree with you. Athletic implies, well, athleticism. It's not quite a linear scale.

But maybe they could add an option smaller than slim. "Emaciated"? "Give me a sammich"?

"But maybe they could add an option smaller than slim. "Emaciated"? "Give me a sammich"?"

Well, I mean there's fat, and then there's really, really fat.  And those people would probably say ample or rubenesque, right, but those two terms aren't defined too clearly...

I don't see why you need to separate slim from bony.  It's all to give people a general idea of what you look like, because there are many more than 5 or 6 shapes for humans anyway...

i think the descriptions are inadequate and lame, but what does it matter.  i think your date sounds like he was a bit of an ass and a bore for even talking about what body type you should list yourself as.  "average?"  there is no positive connotation in that word.  however, there is positive connotation in "ample" and "rubenesque."   how pc of them.  i guess some guys in this fair country of ours use the term "athletic" to describe anyone they think has an attractive body, the same way they would you the phrase "nice body," or she has a "tight ass," "look at the ass on that one" and so forth.   Just the kind of guy you want to date.  Guys from jersey do this maybe?   if you are a nice guy from jersey then i apologize.  I would list yourself as either petite or athletic due to your height and your apparent lack of averageness.  i am slim/petite because i am slim and i am not petite but i am average height and i am not average.  so there you have it.

I never know what to put. I mean, I've always been heavy, there's no escaping that. But people ALWAYS assume I weigh a lot less than I do, so it either fits well on my frame or it's simply hidden well, so should I put what I AM, or should I put what I would be if I was actually how people saw me?

I kind of thing that I should put what I am, but I don't FEEL like a fat person, I just am one. I can do sporty things when I need/want to, and it's not like I get winded walking down the street. Besides, if *I* put that I'm fat, what do, like, really fat people put down?

In the end, I usually end up putting down the equivalent of "a few extra pounds" and leave it at that. It's not true—it's more than a few extra pounds—but I figure it doesn't really matter. I'm going to be judged more on my pictures than on what I write in a profile, anyway.

I had curvy on my profile, but have been told i'm average a few times and changed it. I'm 5'5" and a size 6 to 8 depending on the cut, designer, season, time of month, etc. But I think I'm curvy because I have hourglass curves. Plus, average size for a female in the US is a size 12.

The guys seem to interpret this differently for themselves. I have met a few guys who have claimed to be athletic or on another site- athletic and toned, only to show up with a belly. I guess playing beer pong or walking your dog around the block makes you athletic?

I think there should be a skinny fat category for the guys. I see a lot of this with guys over 30. They were skinny or athletic in their 20's , but then life happened. I think a few extra pounds allows for too much interpretation. What's a few? 5, 10, 45? I think skinny fat paints a clearer, more accurate picture.

Ah, the joys of self-reporting.

It goes without saying that these are relative categories, but relative to what?  The residents of Muncie Indiana?  Parisian runway models?  Until dating sites require height, weight and body fat percentages we will just have to use our imaginations and put down whatever we feel will get the best response when we meet face to face with our prospective loved ones.  

Nice little crumpet collector you have there.  Series one, no less.

I always though "slender" would be a good option, or perhaps the somewhat more clinical "proportional"...

If only height and weight were required, this would be less of an issue.

It used to be height/weight for Hooksexup.  You also used to be able to request height and weight ranges.

Men hated that the women would suggest that they be taller than average, while men, of course, asked for ridiculous proportions from the women.

As for the current system: since the average person has a "few extra pounds," it's confusing.

I've heard girls scream in horror and run to the bathroom to purge after being described as "healthy".

I've always assumed "athletic" meant "worked out/toned" as well.

Whatever, everyone is crazy!

Back to the batcave.

To my ears, "average" means not fat and not super skinny.  But I guess in America in this day and age, when something like 1 out of 4 adults is obese, "average" has shifted to mean a little chubby. It's literally the average. Still, it doesn't make sense to me to describe myself as "athletic" either. In fact, it's rather laughable, considering that the last experience I had with organized sports was being tormented in gym class when I was a kid in school.  I live in a city without a car, so I walk a lot. Does that count? I kind of think not.

I hate this one myself. I'm totally uncoordinated, and don't like the athletic moniker. But slim/petite? I'm 5'5" and 115. That's far from emaciated. Yes, size 0 or 2, but I don't look it-I'm peasant stock. I look, well, healthy, curvy. I don't want to disappoint someone looking for a twig by putting down slim/petite, but average doesn't cut it for me any longer, either-I'm too small now...

So I've bitten the bullet and put down slim for now. Twiglet it is, until I get called out on it. I dance, I'm healthy, I'm happy with the way I look, maybe that's enough?

We need a better system.