Photoshopped Image Reveals ‘Ideal’ Female Body According To 18 Countries
[Photo: onlinedoctor.superdrug.com / Hugo Felix/Shutterstock]
A new study commissioned by high street retailer Superdrug reveals the ‘ideal’ female body type according to 18 countries across the world.
Female graphic designers from participating countries were briefed to photoshop the same image of a woman to “fit with their culture’s perception of beauty and an ideal female form.”
The designers were also allowed to modify face, hair and clothing.
China produced the lightest submission at 7.28 stone which translates to a dangerously low estimated BMI of 17 (according to study outlined below). The NHS says: “adults with anorexia generally have a BMI below 17.5.”
[Photo: onlinedoctor.superdrug.com / Hugo Felix/Shutterstock]
Italy wasn’t far behind in the skinny stakes, weighing in at 7.71 stone (an estimated BMI of 18).
[Photo: onlinedoctor.superdrug.com / Hugo Felix/Shutterstock]
Superdrug said: “We ran a brief survey with a 35-person sample and, assuming a height of 165 centimeters, asked participants to guess the weight of the woman in each Photoshopped image. We then calculated her BMI based on average weight data.”
Spain had the heaviest submission at 10.93 stone.
[Photo: onlinedoctor.superdrug.com / Hugo Felix/Shutterstock]
North, South, and Central American countries produced an exaggerated hourglass figure.
[Photo: onlinedoctor.superdrug.com / Hugo Felix/Shutterstock]
[Photo: onlinedoctor.superdrug.com / Hugo Felix/Shutterstock]
[Photo: onlinedoctor.superdrug.com / Hugo Felix/Shutterstock]
European and Asian nations chose to render the original image significantly thinner, resulting in an estimated BMI falling under or dangerously close to anorexia levels.
The UK produced a flat-stomached hourglass form.
[Photo: onlinedoctor.superdrug.com / Hugo Felix/Shutterstock]
The results saw drastic differences in hair colour and attire.
[Photo: onlinedoctor.superdrug.com / Hugo Felix/Shutterstock]
Waist-to-hip ratio changes were common with some images unrecognisable from the original.
[Photo: onlinedoctor.superdrug.com / Hugo Felix/Shutterstock]
Superdrug said: “Widely held perceptions of beauty and perfection can have a deep and lasting cultural impact on both women and men. The goal of this project is to better understand potentially unrealistic standards of beauty and to see how such pressures vary around the world.”
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