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In a world that becomes more and more connected, ideas about beauty also become more universal. Is this really happening, or are there still large differences between what people consider to be beautiful?

According to scientists from the University of Aberdeen, beauty ideals are universal and don’t differ in other cultures. They showed hundreds of portraits to people in England and Japan, and even though the Japanese preferred Japanese beauties, and the English preferred English beauties, researchers found out that both cultures preferred the same type of face with the same characteristics.

The researchers made an ‘average’ face based on all portraits on the computer and also made a compilation of the fifteen faces that were chosen as the most handsome. When they used a computer to intensify the characteristics that distinguished the handsome face, the resulting face was said to be even more beautiful by respondents. It did not matter if it was an Asian or Caucasian face; if it possessed the qualities of extreme beauty, everyone liked it.

So there are characteristics that are universally considered to be beautiful, such as a symmetrical face, a straight nose, and full lips. Remarkable is that characteristics that are seen as female, such as full lips and big eyes, are considered to be beautiful for both men and women. Men prefer very feminine women, but women also seem to prefer feminine men. Maybe that’s the reason why we not only see beautiful, curvy, Brazilian models in this episode of Metropolis, but also Chinese businessmen who have their eyebrows waxed and the most beautiful man of Nicaragua who is shaving his chest.