this is a stereotypical foundation - do not whip out your measuring tape and apply it irl. it's just a vague base. it does not hold true for everyone. there are ladies with 'manly' bodies. there are men with 'ladylike' bodies. there are dudes with soft jaws, and women with strong jawlines. myself, i'm type number one 'neutral', just a solid square brick of a person!
this is just a VAGUE guide, a VERY GENERAL baseline. this rule can be broken freely. BUT, if you're frustrated because "all my ladies look like dudes"/"all my dudes look like ladies", you might try giving these a spin to see if your characters 'read' better following these rules.also, these are looking at cis women and men, in very broad generalities. if your character is trans, a lot of this goes out the window. which is not a bad thing at all! people come in many different and wonderful shapes! but this guide is not all that applicable. and, again, please don't whip out a measuring tape and feel bad about yourself here!! this is JUST stereotypical drawing foundation-work.
note also that these general rules leave out somebody's waist entirely. women tend to have more defined waists than men, but not always! that's another lesson, alas.
so, from left on over...
the person in green is our 'neutral'. hips and shoulders are abouuut the same width. overall, rectangle-shaped. this is a shape you can push to feminine or to masculine, either way, depending on other details you leave in. their jaw is neither super soft nor super square. they are pretty in-betweeny.
the person in pinky-purple is our 'feminine'. her shoulders are smaller than her hips. her hips are going to be comparatively larger. her jawline is rather soft - more of a curve than a sharp angle. her body type shape, leaving out the waist and just looking at the hips and shoulders, is going to be like a pyramid right-side-up. also note that she doesn't have a thigh gap. thigh gaps are actually really rare for cis women. this is because of how their pelvises sit in their body - it's at a different angle than a cis man's.
the person in blue is our 'masculine'. his jaw is bigger and is a more sharply defined angle that is more prominent. his neck is also a little thicker, and he sports an adam's apple (if a cis dude). his shoulders are broad, and wider than his hips. his body shape type, leaving out his waist, is kinda like an upside-down pyramid or a pyramid on its point. he is also more likely to have a thigh gap if cis, because his pelvis sits differently than a cis woman's and is unconcerned with being at a prime angle for birthin' some babies.
again, these are very vague generalizations. do not take them for hard rules that must always be adhered to. if in doubt look at reference of real people instead! this is just some vague foundation that might help some people.
