How The 'Perfect' Female Body Is Perceived Around The World

The way people see beauty differs around the world, much like how languages do. This idea gained attention in 2014 when journalist Esther Honig became a sensation. She sent her photo to graphic designers all over the globe and requested them to enhance her appearance to make her seem "beautiful."
How The 'Perfect' Female Body Is Perceived Around The World

This movement motivated others to join in, like biracial Priscilla Yuki Wilson and Marie Southward, who put their own “plus-sized twist” on things. In 2014, a UK online doctor service called OnlineDoctor.SuperDrug.com teamed up with the content marketing agency Fractl for a similar venture.

Fractl sent a standard image of a woman in her underwear to graphic designers in 18 countries, spanning from the UK to Syria, to see how ideas about beauty vary worldwide.

How The ‘Perfect’ Female Body Is Perceived Around The World

The Results Varied Significantly When It Comes To Beauty Standards

Philippines

How The ‘Perfect’ Female Body Is Perceived Around The World

In the Philippines, people tend to think that being slimmer with darker hair aligns with their idea of true beauty.

USA

How The ‘Perfect’ Female Body Is Perceived Around The World

In the United States, folks leaned towards valuing a thigh gap, a more toned stomach, and a highly airbrushed face as their standard of beauty.

China

How The ‘Perfect’ Female Body Is Perceived Around The World

China produced the most altered image, estimating the model’s weight to be about 100 pounds. Changes included the face, hair, underwear, and overall body transformation.

Colombia

How The ‘Perfect’ Female Body Is Perceived Around The World

Colombia leaned towards a curvier concept of beauty, making subtle adjustments like adding more hair and toning down the orange skin.

Egypt

How The ‘Perfect’ Female Body Is Perceived Around The World

They threw in a touch of orange tint, gave the model a slim waist, and switched up the hair color to black.

Italy

How The ‘Perfect’ Female Body Is Perceived Around The World

They crafted a version almost as slim as China’s, altering the underwear and shoe colors, showcasing a notably different take on beauty.

The Netherlands

How The ‘Perfect’ Female Body Is Perceived Around The World

They lightened the woman’s hair, slimmed down her legs, and tossed in boots and a pink bikini.

Peru

How The ‘Perfect’ Female Body Is Perceived Around The World

In their idea of beauty, Peru concentrated on making the model’s arms and stomach slimmer, along with some tweaks to the eyes.

Romania

How The ‘Perfect’ Female Body Is Perceived Around The World

They went for a more orangey tint and trimmed off some inches around the body.

Serbia

How The ‘Perfect’ Female Body Is Perceived Around The World

Tackled both the body and face of the model.

South Africa

How The ‘Perfect’ Female Body Is Perceived Around The World

Revealed a slimmer and taller rendition of the model.

Spain

How The ‘Perfect’ Female Body Is Perceived Around The World

Kept a curvier look in comparison to other countries.

Mexico

How The ‘Perfect’ Female Body Is Perceived Around The World

Provided the woman with a more natural tan and brown hair.

Syria

How The ‘Perfect’ Female Body Is Perceived Around The World

Came up with a makeover that looked a bit off.

The UK

How The ‘Perfect’ Female Body Is Perceived Around The World

The UK kept it simple with a white background and gave the model a much slimmer body.

Ukraine

How The ‘Perfect’ Female Body Is Perceived Around The World

Tried to give the model’s hair more volume and made significant alterations to her body. Changes also involved adjusting the color of her underwear and shoes.

Argentina

How The ‘Perfect’ Female Body Is Perceived Around The World

Gave the model a digital tummy tuck and a lift for the breasts.

Venezuela

How The ‘Perfect’ Female Body Is Perceived Around The World

Brightened her skin tone and gave her long, wavy dark hair.

The Fractl team observed, “Some designers in North, South, and Central American countries created a highly exaggerated hourglass figure,” while others in Europe and Asia opted for a very slender depiction. These diverse beauty standards highlighted in these images underscore the subjective nature of beauty criteria around the world.

How Beauty Standards Differ Around The World

As For The Perception Of Beauty, It Seems People Just See Things Differently

When you look at all the versions side by side, it’s striking to see how much the original image changed with just a few Photoshop edits to align with each region’s beauty ideals. Among the edited images, those from China showed the slimmest figure, while Spain’s version was the heaviest, and China’s was also the lightest.

The key message from this comparison is that beauty exists in various forms, sizes, and hues. It’s impossible to meet every beauty standard set by different cultures. The best approach is to accept and love yourself as you are, staying true to yourself as much as possible.

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