This is evident from a comprehensive study published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society.
The study, led by neuropsychologist Eugen Wassiliwizky at the Max Planck Institute in Frankfurt, Germany, clearly shows that both men and women, on average, think women are more attractive than men.
Universal view of beauty
The results are based on data from 52 studies from 76 countries representing most cultures and ethnicities around the world. A total of 28,500 people, men and women, ranked 17,000 faces in terms of attractiveness. All faces were photographed from the front and without makeup.
What's striking is how similar the ratings were, despite people from so many different countries participating. An average female face was considered more attractive than 60 percent of male faces.
Strangely enough, although the subject has always aroused great interest, this is the first time anyone has scientifically verified the phenomenon.
The fair sex
Charles Darwin already pondered the beauty of women, noting that women were generally referred to as “the fairer sex.” He also noted that in most other mammals and birds, it is the males that are the most visually striking, “most beautiful,” if you will. The manes of male lions and the tail feathers of peacocks are some examples.
But with us it is obviously the opposite.
The question is why. Researchers have no clear answers and it is difficult to pinpoint the evolutionary driving forces that created the phenomenon, but it seems that both sexes have an innate tendency to find rounder faces - feminine features - more attractive. Perhaps it is because they bear a greater resemblance to the faces of young children, the researchers reason.
Most importantly, the results suggest that attractiveness is not so much a matter of personal preference and taste, but a combination of biology and social influences.
In the animal world, the sexes often look different, an effect of evolution selecting traits that have provided advantages in the struggle to spread genes further, so-called sexual selection.
Lions have large manes to impress other males, and pheasant roosters impress other roosters and the females with their plumage.
In humans, this is not as clear, but it seems that women are the most visually striking gender - contrary to the prevailing trend in the animal world.
Source: Proceedings of the Royal Society.
