It’s true what they say – beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And, depending on the country, people’s beauty standards can differ quite drastically. The US, for example loved their perfectly aligned, straight teeth, while in Japan, crooked teeth are a huge turn on. Needless to say, some of the entries on this list might look crazy to us, but remember to always be respectful of other people and their culture. To them you may also look like a clown!
Now, let’s see some of the more unusual things that people in various countries around the world find attractive and sexy.
Crooked Teeth, Japan
As I’ve previously said, Western culture likes its straight line of even, whitened teeth. But unlike us Westerners, the Japanese love their crooked teeth, also called “yaeba”. It’s for this very reason dentists in Japan are in extremely high demand right now.
Scarification, Western Africa, New Guinea
There are still people in several communities of New Guinea and some African countries, who decorate their bodies with scars. The men get these scars during an initiation ceremony, whatever that may entail, but women only receive these “tattoos” as an indication of their remarkable beauty.
A heart-shaped face, South Korea
Easily the least disturbing beauty trends on this list – the heart-shaped face. Who wouldn’t want to look this beautiful? In South Korea, plastic surgery is pretty common, and this heart-shaped face operation is completely normal. Like going out to buy a new pair of jeans, only it’s for your face… and permanent. The operation often involves breaking the jaw bones into 3 smaller pieces, removing the central part, and fusing the two other parts to create a pointy chin. The only drawback of this operation is that you’d be unable to eat solid food for a while. Still worth it!
Excess weight, Mauritania
If you’re trying to seduce a Mauritanian, you better have some of those “love handles” on you, and a big fat belly. What’s even crazier, parents send their daughters to special “farms”, where they can eat up to 16,000 calories a day! Yeah, we have those too, it’s called “Grandma’s house”. Of course, where there’s excessive eating, there are also stomach illnesses, so that kinda sucks.
Surgical dressings on the face, Iran
Apparently, Iranians are not too fond of their noses, as they’ll pay any price to get those schnozes fixed with rhinoplasty. But that’s not the strangest part. Recently people started plastering surgical dressings on their noses to show everyone they’re wealthy enough to have their noses fixed, even though they didn’t have a nose job. Cheeky little Iranians!
Pale skin, China, Thailand
Pale skin has been a signature feature of the European royalty since… I don’t know since when, but it’s been ages for sure. Turns out, in many parts of Asia, pale skin is also considered to be the highest standard of beauty. The paler you are, the more attractive you look! As a pale-skin myself, I’d like to test this theory out one day.
A high forehead, The Fula people
Although not very widespread, the appreciation for a high forehead is truly remarkable. In the Fula tribe of Africa it’s actually the most important attribute for a woman to have. Some of the Fula women even remove parts of their hair to make their foreheads look bigger. Did you hear that JacksFilms? Someone out there loves big foreheads! Oh, and yes, a similar custom has been observed in medieval Europe as well.
A long neck, Burma
You may have seen this beauty trend in the news or in movies. These are the Kayan people of East Burma, whose women wear brass rings around their necks. The longer the neck, the more beautiful the woman looks, or at least that’s what the Kayans believe.
Stretched lips, The Mursi people
One of the classic WTFs from my childhood – people with “plates” in their lips. In the Ethiopian Mursi tribe girls stretch their lower lips using special disks. The size of that disk determines the girl’s social status, and the dowry that has to be paid before her marriage. Nobody knows exactly why the Mursi are doing this, but according to one of the theories it’s to keep their women from being taken into slavery.
Monobrows, Tajikistan
In Tajikistan, if a girl rocks a bushy monobrow you know she’s definitely getting some, as it is considered a sign of true female beauty! People here believe that one big eyebrow is an indication of great fortune, too.
All of these traditions and peculiarities may seem iffy to some of us, while others may find them quite revolting, but if you look at what’s trending on certain websites, you’ll realize we are also weird as hell with all sorts of strange fetishes.
So, again, try to be respectful, and don’t be a d*ck to other people for how they look… unless you’re on Tumblr. In this case you can burn that place with all the weird stuff in it, and I wouldn’t even care.
