A survey conducted by Bluebella was determined to figure out the difference between how men and women perceive beauty of themselves and of each other. The result was that they created Frankenstein people using body parts from famous celebrities to composite what ideal bodies would look like. Women preferred skinny, boyish figures “like Emma Watson” while men preferred women to have curvy figures like that of Kim Kardashian.
Pause. Does this come as a surprise to anyone? There is absolutely nothing inherent about these perspectives of beauty, this is how we are all socialized. Men are bombarded with busty, curvy women in pornography, men’s mags and women are bombarded with stick thin models in fashion magazines. Fashion tells women how they should look. Porn tells men what they should desire. Mainstream movies and television repurpose these ideas.
What’s interesting is that both men and women thought men should look the same: big and buff. This comes as no surprised as well. We live in a patriarchal society that only wants there to be one kind of man—a big tough, protective, muscly dude. Strong dudes are always the heroes of the story whether they are literally superheroes or just reporters. Notice that all of these versions of ideal beauty only have White European features as well. The only positive representations of men and women that exist are thin, attractive White people. Interestingly enough, overall, both and women preferred the features of celebrities who were in their 30s or 40s.
While these Frankenstein people might be super hot monsters, they’re obviously not real. No one looks like this. Even celebrities don’t look like this—each of these composites is like 10 different people put together. These “ideals” are just that, fantasies that are sold to us along with the products and messages sold with them.
