Some American beauty standards are rather unusual in other countries, and these physical features are the same ones other people might deliberately change or try to hide.
The Hollywood smile
American celebrities almost always have impossibly white teeth, and there’s a good reason for that. Americans pay a lot more attention to their smiles than people in many other countries do. We see perfectly straight teeth as a major part of looking attractive.
Teeth need to look the part, and not simply look healthy. Whiteness and straightness are some of the very first things Americans notice about teeth because, for us, even teeth have beauty standards.
A little extra gum
That’s not all for teeth either. In many other countries, they don’t think showing a bit of gum when smiling is an attractive feature. Yet we’re quite tolerant of it in the United States. We’re more than tolerant, in fact, as many Americans find gummy smiles to be appealing.
Research has shown that quite a few Americans find a smile with up to four millimeters of gum attractive. That’s not exactly a huge amount on display, but still, it’s enough to notice. We’re much bigger fans of gummy smiles than people in most other nations.
The superhero physique
You’ll notice something very common in many American superhero movies. Most of the leading men are huge. Not in terms of height, but with their muscles, as lots of Americans find broad shoulders and enormous arms appealing.
Quite a few other countries see male attractiveness differently. Take, for example, South Korea, where slimmer and more effeminate men are seen as handsome. It’s a relatively American idea to see very muscular men as attractive.
Curves in all the right places
The exaggerated hourglass figure has been part of American beauty standards for several years now. It’s the kind of figure where someone has a noticeably small waist along with much fuller hips and a rounded backside. Kim Kardashian is probably one of the best examples of it.
This look has become so popular in America that many people undergo cosmetic procedures to achieve it. Brazilian butt lifts are one of the most common options. It’s clear that, in the United States, the hourglass figure wins out.Â
A noticeably fuller pout
When people get lip filler, they’re not always looking to get a completely different mouth, although some certainly do. They’re often trying to fit American beauty standards, which say that a little extra plumpness to the lips is attractive.
Some more volume to the upper lip gives people, especially women, a fuller and more pronounced appearance. That’s the kind of look we love over here. The American cosmetic industry has certainly embraced this look.
The sculpted makeup look
Heavily contoured makeup is another popular beauty trend over here. Kim Kardashian helped popularize the technique, turning something used by professional makeup artists into a trend that millions of Americans wanted to copy at home.
Generally, we think that it’s appealing when a woman has heavier makeup on her face, especially since she can use it to reshape her appearance. Her nose and cheeks, even her jawline, can look completely different. You won’t find many foreigners seeing it the same way.
The little spots across the nose
It sounds strange, but it’s true. Freckles have become something that a few people actually pay to have, even though people used to cover their freckles in foundation. We’ve changed our attitude towards freckles quite a bit.
There are actually several American companies that sell products for customers to add artificial freckles to their faces. Yes, really. You can get cosmetic tattooing procedures, too, if you want them to last longer. Freckles have become a rather common part of American makeup culture.
The hairy chest
While people in places like South Korea might prefer the boyish look, it turns out that quite a few Americans prefer men with some chest hair. Specifically, we generally prefer men to have hairy chests over smooth ones.
Hair doesn’t work everywhere, though, as a YouGov poll found that 64% of Americans thought hairy backs were unattractive. It seems that most of us are all for chest hair, but we give back hair a tougher time.
The face that’s lived a little
You might assume that, if a man has a scar on his face, he’d want to hide it. But the truth is that he should probably show it off, as it doesn’t make him any less attractive to Americans. A lot of us like that slightly rugged appearance.
We have a preference for weathered male faces, and we seem more attracted to them than people in other countries do. They often prefer men to look more flawless, but over here, we think that the imperfections make a man more attractive.
A nose that stands out
There’s something about a big nose that gives someone a rather recognizable face. Think of Adrien Brody, for example, and how his distinctive profile has become part of his appearance. We Americans love it when a guy doesn’t have a tiny, perfectly shaped nose.
Of course, that’s not true for everyone. There are plenty of Americans who prefer more balanced features, but it seems that a prominent nose has several admirers in the United States. We appreciate it a bit more than people elsewhere.
A bold frame for the eyes
Eyebrows are so important to someone’s appearance, and here in the United States, we prefer men to have thick ones. You know the kind. They’re the sort of brows that are dark enough to stand out against a man’s skin.
It’s not even exclusive to men, either, as one survey found that many Americans favor thicker eyebrows on women, too. People in Japan might prefer the more sculpted look, but not over here.
A stronger forehead shape
Speaking of brows, the heavy-looking ridge just above a man’s eyes has a name. It’s called the brow ridge. Guys with pronounced facial bones have more prominent brow ridges, and it seems that we find these men to be more attractive.
It makes sense, really. A lot of American media has featured leading men with strongly masculine facial features, and that’s helped to influence what we find more appealing.
A wider smile
The size of a woman’s mouth is something that people disagree on, apparently. It’s hardly a facial feature most of us are thinking about, but still. Researchers have found that American women prefer larger mouths on female faces.
Over in Japan, however, people generally liked smaller mouths on women. We don’t have a nationwide obsession with wide smiles, yet American women seem to have more of a preference for them than people in some other countries do.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
Myths about Americans that were always false
While people talk about Americans like we’re one predictable group, a lot of the ideas about us were never accurate to begin with, and here are some myths that were always false.
