In the beginning of the semester, Jane Truesdell and her roommates hung a sign over their Winspear Avenue home that stated “Dad bods only.”
The recent trend of the dad bod is a new body physique that can be described as a male with a beer belly who might go to the gym occasionally but isn’t a gym rat, eats whatever he pleases and most importantly – doesn’t have abs.
Many women now prefer men with a dad bod over a fit body because they find men with this physique more fun to hang out with, more comfortable to cuddle with and less threatening than a man with an impeccable physique.
The dad bod trend became popular when a girl named Mackenzie Pearson, a junior psychology major from Clemson University, wrote an essay about “the average male body type” that went viral.
Now, there are men who claim they have this body type and are proud of it. Women specifically go after men with this body type.
“We love it because the dad bod resembles the go-to guy,” said Truesdell, a junior health and human services major. “He’s the guy who could be your absolute best friend or the guy you could end up hooking up with.”
Truesdell said she noticed the dad bod trend started over the summer when she saw pictures of guys with beer bellies and girls fawning over them on the Internet.
After seeing these photos, Truesdell and her roommates realized that many of their guy friends have the dad bod and they love these friends for the structure of their body.
A man with a dad bod is known to be available to eat with a woman whenever they want because he’s not wasting his time working out at the gym.
“If you find yourself either being best friends with a guy with a dad bod or in a relationship with one, you find each other saying, ‘Let's start going to the gym this week’ and then you may end up going, but the dad bod will just end up going to Five Guys,” Truesdell said.
Matt Foci, a freshman electrical engineering major, described the dad bod as a male who has a beer belly and didn’t know that there are many women who are attracted to this body type.
Foci does not think he has a dad bod but said his friends tell him his body resembles the figure.
“I don’t think I do but my friends think I do, so if girls find [the dad bod] attractive then send them this way,” Foci said.
Truesdell and her friends also find the dad bod attractive because these men don’t care what they look like or who is judging them and they have the most fun at parties due to their morale.
“He is living life to the fullest and can always drink the most,” Truesdell said. “He's the life of the party and if you see that, it's instantly attractive. The stomach is just another part to hug.”
Nouaman Maloley, a junior political science major, thinks he has a dad bod but never thought of this body type as a positive figure. He also wasn’t aware that there are people who find the dad bod an attractive body type.
“If people find it sexy, then why not have [a dad bod]?” Nouaman said.
But according to Truesdell, the only trait that could make a man with a dad bod less attractive is if he has a poor personality.
An important aspect of the dad bod is that a less-developed physique can be less threatening to a woman and gives many women a confidence boost about their own bodies.
“Guys with super ripped bodies make girls feel self conscious,” Truesdell said. “Not only are we accepting of all dad bods, but they are accepting of us. We hung the sign on Labor Day weekend because we accept all dad bods and want them to always feel welcomed at [our house].”
Dani Guglielmo is the features editor and can be reached at dani.guglielmo@ubspectrum.com
