I’m 100% Eastern European, but I think you might overestimate how much Eastern European influence there is on the American gene pool. I might be wrong, and certainly in Chicago (where I live), the influence is high.
No clue. Hungarians don’t quite look like Czechs or Poles or Russians though. They’re not Slavs, for one, and they’re quite a mix ethnically, originating in Asia, although modern-day Hungarians are mostly European genetically. Still, you can see some of the Asian influence in certain Hungarians.
I’m not quite sure I buy that mixed genetic background individuals are, as a rule, prettier than more homogenous stocks. There’s plenty of Polish mixed with Mexican or Chilean or whatnot around here, and they don’t look on average any better or worse than the straight-up Pole or Mexican.
It’s hard to compare. There are a lot of really nice looking women in Russia. But they tended not to hold up as well. Life’s tough and drinking and other abuses take their toll. And I can’t count the number of times that I saw a really gorgeous woman who had a mouth full of gold teeth due to the horrendous dental care there. Bad bleach jobs were pretty common leaving some rough looking hair behind.
But still you don’t have the fat factor there as much because women get more exercise, even if it’s just walking to the store or school which doesn’t happen here. And though in the Soviet times, there weren’t high fashions in the store, my wife made her own clothes to at least try and look good. They made do with more simple cosmetics rather the the pounds of spackle that women slap on their faces here.
One of her enduring memories after we moved back to the states was seeing some horrendous cow squeezed into old sweatpants at the grocery. That would not fly over there. But it’s probably something that will change now that more people have cars and access to the shit that we eat. In fact when I am at the Russian grocery store here, you are already seeing Russian immigrants larded up on junk food.
So I can’t say that Eastern Europeans are more beautiful. When you see models you are seeing top notch women with access to trainers and all kinds of good stuff. It’s hardly indicative of the overall population. I can only speak about Mrs Slug and I am pretty happy. Oddly enough she enjoys having me around as well.
This (except for my “Brit living in Sweden” tastes). My (Swedish) ex moved to Latvia for work and we did the distance relationship for a year and a half. Frankly the women in Riga all - seriously all - simply looks like skanks to me. Maybe I just don’t go for the caked-on make-up look and I just don’t see the point in high-heels, but for the most part I thought they all looked like hookers. I never saw a single woman over there that did anything for me.
I think part of it certainly is what you are interested in. If you are really attracted to one look, and you go someplace with a relatively homogenous population that tends towards that look, you are obviously going to find a larger percentage of the population attractive.
If you are into skinny Asian women, China is going to seem like an amazing wonderland. You’ll see your preferred type everywhere as opposed to just now and then. The flip-side, of course, is that if you are into busty Latinas you are screwed.
Another factor that makes seemingly gorgeous women seem to “settle” with average men is that they may not be considered gorgeous where they are from. I knew many foreigners with “hot” Chinese girlfriends that any Chinese person would say looked like a chubby dark skinned peasant.
Another factor is how valueable hotness is on the local marriage market. In the West, most marriages are based on love and physical attractiveness can be a major factor. Love is still desired in Eastern Europe, but there is a lot of peasant practicality that factors in also. A man may desire a hottie for a girlfriend or a misstress, but wants a hard worker, good breeder and not so pretty that he has to worry about other men wanting her as a wife. Also a hottie with children from a previous marriage or a lot of poor relations is at a disadvantage over the non-hottie with no such burderns. Finally, there is a revival of religion and “tradiational values” in some areas of Eastern Europe and former Soviet Asia which means if hottie lost her virginity outside of marriage, has a slutty reputation, or just looks like she should have a slutty reputation her chances of a good match fall.
I don’t think it’s that much different in Central/Eastern Europe, to be honest. At least not in the urban areas. If anything, I find women from that part of the world to be a bit more romantic and impulsive than their American counterparts.
I was in St. Petersburg, Russia in the late 90’s and found the level of “hotness” to be really high. I remember one day riding up the escalator from the metro and deciding to count how many women coming down the other escalator were gorgeous or above (IMHO, of course). Granted it was a long escalator, but my count was 56.
These are all just WAGS as to why Eastern European women might seem hitter than those in the States:
Many women in the US try to look sexy or hot. Some also try to look cute, outdoorsy, professional, suburban soccer mom-like, matronly, or whatever their comfort level and/or subculture may dictate. Meanwhile, in Eastern Europe, a much higher percentage of women try to pull off the sexy or hot look, to the exclusion of other looks.
Take a plain but athletic outdoorsy woman from Boulder who never wears makeup, and usually dons androgynous outdoor gear. Give her a makeover, a new hairstyle, and a faux-designer dress. Volia! Russian bride material.
Take a typical overweight woman in the US. Get her weight down to the low end of what’s considered a healthy weight. Replace her typical stretched ponytail or short hair with a more flattering hairstyle. Makeover, visit to the salon, visit to the mall. Volia! Russian bride material.
Instead of comparing the current breed of Eastern European hotties with average American women, how about comparing early 1980s Soviet-era women with pre-obesity epidemic 1980s American women of the same age group. Basically, let’s compare the 1984 yearbooks of Springfield High with Revolutionary People’s Glorious School For Secondary Education #43. The Russian/Soviet women may have hairstyles that are a few years dated, but otherwise I bet you’ll find they appear far more similar than different.
I also wonder if there’s any truth to the belief that Eastern European women don’t age well. I’ve seent he hotties and the babushka ladies, but little in-between. When I was in Cleveland, I lived in a neighborhood with a very large Russian population. Same thing; lots of hotties in their 20s and 30s (you could tell by their dress and overhearing them when they spoke), and some hunched-over babushkas, but no middle-aged Russian women.
That by itself may do it. If you’re super-aware of the transient nature of beauty, then you’re unlikely to value your current hotness as highly as if you think you’ll never age (or can afford plastic surgery when the time comes.)
Does not apply to those Eastern European women in Spain, though.
Something I did not address in my previous post is the attractiveness of the women themselves. Things like a specific body type, or specific colorings, which are common and therefore average “back home” to these women are unusual and therefore attractive in other locations. Methinks the blonde, blue-eyed type which is to a Spaniard like honey to flies would be a lot less visible or surprising in Minesotta or Sweden.
I don’t blame the cheese. Rather the ridiculous amounts of sugar and starches that has found it’s way into the American daily diet.
I grew up in South Dakota near the Minnesota border. There’s majority German and Norwegian ancestry in that area and people tend to be large-framed and taller than the nationwide average (as well as many carrying some extra weight). I was the shortest/lightest kid in the class always and less than half the weight of several of my close girl friends, growing up. My father, whose narrow frame I inherited but who is 6’1", looked like a child standing next to those Vikings.
Kathyman, one of the two Spanish Lit teachers in my local HS, got her nickname within minutes of stepping into her first class because she was big enough to carry a real-life Geyperman or Madelman (two action figure lines popular at the time) under each arm. She’s blonde, blue-eyed, has been called a Valkyrie, and although she’s now married and approaching 40 she still causes instant crushes on her students. On the first day of the school year you can see which ones got Papa Smurf and which ones got Kathyman by who looks about to cry and who’s grinning from ear to ear.
Nava mentioned uncommon characteristics being considered exotic and especially attractive. In Minnesota, blue eyes and light hair are fairly common, but slender women are rather rare. I would go so far as to say that the defining characteristic of Eastern European women that makes them stand out against the many American women of European and Eastern European ancestry is their slenderness.
But she’s talking about things that are exotic in Spain, and then gives the example of blue eyes and blonde hair, and then mentions that those things (blue eyes, blonde hair) are not exotic in Minnesota.
Her point has nothing to do with what is considered exotic in Minnesota.
I was confused because you said, “a very slender blue-eyed blond would still be on the exotic side in Minnesota,” but your point is more that a very slender anything is exotic in Minnesota, and has nothing to do with eye/hair color.