The former X Factor star was inundated with praise on social media. “Looking ripped bro 💪👏,” footballer Jeremy Lynch commented on a video of Murs lifting weights. “Impressive kidda 👏👏👏👏,” said comedian John Bishop.
But not everyone was impressed with the singer’s muscular transformation. On Wednesday, William Costello, a doctoral psychology researcher, posted ‘before and after’ photos of Murs on X, asking participants whether he looks better before or after. He found that while 42.6 per cent of men said that Murs looked better after his gym transformation, only 7 per cent of women did.
Some people commented that they preferred a “dad bod”. What is a “dad bod” and what does the phenomenon reveal about our psyches and social worlds?
The term “dad bod” was popularized by Mackenzie Pearson, who wrote the viral 2015 essay: “Why Girls Love the Dad Bod.”
“The dad bod is a nice balance between a beer gut and working out,” Pearson wrote in the article, published on her college website, the Odyssey.
Pearson’s ideal physique went viral, dissected by publications including The New York Times, New York Magazine and GQ. “It’s built upon the theory that once a man has found a mate and fathered a child, he doesn’t need to worry about maintaining a sculpted physique,” Alex Abad-Santos writes in Vox.
“The dad bod is more mudslide than mountain, more soft serve than sorbet, more sad trombone than clarinet, more mashed potato than skinny fry. The dad bod is built for comfort.”
Why may people be more attracted to a ‘dad bod’?
Pearson put forward a handful of theories as to why people may find a “dad bod” more attractive, including the fact that the physique may be less intimidating or lead to “better cuddling.” But is there any basis to her theory?
Data indicates that people may in fact be more attracted to less toned bodies. One 2017 survey by Planet Fitness found that nearly half of women (47 per cent) believed that dad bods were the new six pack and a 2021 Dating.com survey reported that nearly 75 per cent of singles prefer a build that is less ripped.
“The body is a form of communication and like anything else, it can be read,” Jane Ogden, professor in health psychology at the University of Surrey, told The Standard.
“A gym-perfect muscle-bound body might match some ‘ideal’ but it can be read as someone who has spent a lot of time in front of a mirror at the gym; it speaks of vanity and of someone who rates looks as a priority.”
A dad bod, on the other hand, “means that there is much less pressure on the other person to be ‘ideal’ making it easier to relax and feel at ease if you ever do get to take your clothes off!”
However, “men still put pressure on themselves to get rid of their dad bods and attain the ideal,” Ogden says, “the myth of what is attractive gets perpetuated”.
Nearly half (48 per cent) of UK men aged 16-40 have struggled with body image issues, according to a 2021 study conducted by the charity Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) and Instagram, while muscle dysmorphia is on the rise.
“What we really want are healthy bodies and healthy minds,” Ogden says, “So a dad bod on someone who feels good about themselves and has interests in things other than themselves is great. But a bit of healthy lifestyle works well as well!”
