Abstract:
Female beauty in terms of facial attractiveness has been a subject of many studies in the past
decades. However, which facial features affect the rating of attractiveness is still a matter of debate.
Human face reflects physiological status, sexual dimorphism, genetic patterns and certain individual
features that make it unique. The authors investigated facial features in a sample of 127 female
subjects and 36 male viewers (medical students aged between 19-20 years) that rated attractiveness
by using a questionnaire. Classical and geometric morphometries allowed us to measure and localize
the differences in terms of shape between women considered attractive or average by their male
colleagues. A number of 24 surface landmarks were digitized on frontal view digital photographs of
the subjects. The obtained sets of landmarks were analyzed by means of geometric morphometries
and the average female face was compared to the average attractive face. Attractiveness was proved
to be associated with fluctuating asymmetry and differences in shape of the regions that are subject to
sexual dimorphism (middle and lower face). Big eyes, small nose, gracile chin and larger lips are
features that characterize attractive women while shape changes that are associated with a masculine
face (pronounced lower face, elongated forehead) make a woman unattractive. Symmetry is strongly
associated with attractiveness as symmetrical faces tend to be preferred by male reviewers.
Asymmetry implies moving away from the average and that is why it is related to unattractiveness.
Our findings could offer a hint on physically explaining the "first sight" reaction when meeting a
person. Keywords: facial attractiveness, geometric morphometries, sexual dimorphism.
