The Death of Pretty and Rise of the Dadbod

"The Death of Pretty" by Pat Archbold briefly describes how she, the author, defines pretty and how no one wants to be pretty but hot. "Dadbod: A New Word for a Timeless Physique" by Spencer Kornhaber is about how a type of physique that has been around forever has been given a hip new name. Each article is about the physical appearance, one for females and the other for males. Reading both articles, it is clear that there is a double standard between what is expected of girls and what is expected of guys. In Kornhaber's article, he quotes from a New York Times headline, "It's hip to be round," yet it is expected of women to have a certain look as described in Archbolds' "The Death of Pretty". Pretty is "a combination of beauty and innocence" which is being replaced by "hotness". So while the "dadbod" promotes what could be considered a natural body type for males, women "face pressure toward Barbie-doll sculpting (Kornhaber 3)."

What Kornhaber says is that the "dadbod" has always existed and that it is not this hot new thing that social media portrays it to be. Kornhaber also finds the term "dadbod" as "turn[ing] the tables." Now like skinny women who are called "bones" or "anorexic" and obese women who are called "fat" or "whale", men now have a "name" that some may think is great and other's not so much. Having a "dadbod", the word alone makes me think of dad's with big bellies and beer-stained t-shirts. While it may be positive to some people to be "proudly pudgy", the word "dadbod" is just another word to body-shame people.