Nearly two thirds of women (65%) and 62% of men believe that mixed-race/ethnicity women are considered the beauty ideal, according to Allure magazine. This represents a radical shift from 1991, when a similar survey found the perceived ideal to be the all-American blonde personified by Christie Brinkley.
When asked to choose the most attractive man and woman from a series of photographs of models of various races and ethnicities, 54% of women and 48% of men selected a Latina model. Six in 10 women (61%) chose an Indian male model as most attractive. Seven in 10 adults say they could be attracted to someone of a different race or ethnicity than their own.
More than eight in 10 men (82%) and women (87%) believe that the increased diversity of the U.S. population has changed what people consider beautiful. Seven in 10 women (71%) and 67% of men think there’s no longer such a thing as an “all-American” look.
Changing ideals have manifested in new preferences for skin tone and hair color, shape/predominance of facial features, and body dimensions and shapes. For example, 75% of men and 73% of women say that a curvy body type is considered more appealing now than it has been over the last 10 years. Among women who would like to change their skin tone, 70% would like it to be darker.
African American women exhibit the greatest self-confidence about their own looks, rating themselves an average of eight on a 10-point scale of attractiveness, compared to Hispanics and Caucasian women,
who rate themselves an average of five. African American women are least likely to be on diets, and most likely to believe that a male stranger would find them very attractive.
That confidence persists into later life; a third of Black women say they plan to do nothing at all to fight the signs of aging, while 85% of White and Hispanic women will be taking steps to ward off visible signs of age. [Opinion, Emerging Majorities]
Source: “The Allure American Beauty Survey,” Allure Magazine, March 2011, Elizabeth Bliss, Public Relations Manager, 4 Times Sq., New York, NY 10036; 212-286-4588; elizabeth_bliss@condenast.com; www.allure.com. Price: Full survey results are in the March 2011 issue, $2.95; selected data are online: http://www.allure.com/magazine/2011/03/american-beauty-census#slide=1
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