A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Aquarium

Last Sunday we decided to take the kids to Shedd Aquarium downtown Chicago. My parents decided to come with so we picked them up and headed down into the city. I was sitting w/ A in the way back. F can't climb back in her current condition & my mom sometimes gets car sick. It is kinda weird sitting back there - quieter & you tend to look at more stuff.

My phone GPS took us right to the front of the Shedd, which unfortunately is NOT where the parking lot is. So we had to do a U-turn & head back down Lake Shore Dr to hit the exit that takes you to the access road to Shedd. It gave us some time to view the sights of the Lakefront tho. Beautiful boats. Sparkling lake. Buckingham Fountain. Three shirtless young men in jogging shorts with tanned toned torsos waiting at the corner with perspiration glistening... "EWWW...GROSS!!" my 10 yr old daughter F exclaims!

"What? What's gross?" I ask.
"When guys have those squares on their stomach. It's so gross" she replies.
Squares? I think - what squares?. Then I realize she is referring to the 6-pack abs I was just uh... glancing at out the window.

My mom interrupts. "That's not gross that's what men look like when they are in good shape. It's muscles".

"No" she says. "It's Gross."

"Honey" I say. "when guys are real healthy & they exercise alot the muscles show. It's supposed to look like that."

"I think it is gross" she says again.

"You'll change your mind about that in a few years" my dad pipes up with.

She shakes her head in disagreement. So does T. I am sure he is not minding at all that she is repelled by the site of half naked guys w/ 6 packs.

So I wonder later will she change her mind? Should she? I am the first person to rail against the female "ideal" the media forces down our throats. Where a sz 2 JLo is considered "full-figured" & sz 0 seems to be the new Hollywood ideal. So maybe I am being a bit hypocritical telling her that is what a "healthy" male body looks like.

The fact is that people come in lot's of shapes & sizes. Not many people - male or female - have bodies that would be considered "ideal" by media/Hollywood standards. And everyone has different tastes in what they find attractive. There is a female trainer at our gym that has a physique that most of the girls I know sigh over. She has such an awesome body they say! We saw her out running the other day on the way to the library & T says to me I know everyone thinks she has an awesome body but she is so skinny I think she looks kinda gross. (Hmmm like father like daughter LOL) So obviously my darling hubby like girls with a bit more substance. Good thing for me eh? LOL

And when it come right down to it I have always preferred bigger guys. I have never been really attracted to men who were thin. I always said that I could never date a guy could get into my pants (ha ha I mean wear them - not that other thing - get your mind out of the gutter). And while I can admire a 6 pack set of abs as much as the next girl (um hello Team Jacob all the way baby!) it's not like I would know if I would actually be attracted to a set if they were right in front of me. 6 Packs are kind of like Siberian Tigers. You know that they exist. You have seen them in pictures & from a distance but they aren't exactly abundant out there in the wild. KWIM?

So I guess what it all boils down to is I wondered how much of it is a natural progression of growing up to go from GROSS! to Yum! over a six pack, firm pecs, broad shoulders... uh...where was I? Hmmm... oh! yeah... and how much of it is learned thru media exposure & peer (parent? whoops) influence. But in the meantime I will just be glad that my wonderful sweet girl is more interested in Poke'mon than Zac Effron (who People mag says has the hottest bod right now if you're interested in that kind of thing). And maybe I will put of getting that copy of New Moon she has been asking for just a little bit longer. I wouldn't want to gross her out ya know ;)