# Does the era you're born in affect your physical appearance? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 4, 2015, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-era-youre-born-in-affect-your-physical-appearance/736598 "2015-11-04T08:05:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-era-youre-born-in-affect-your-physical-appearance/736598/21 "2015-11-04T21:39:51Z")
I wonder if cosmetic surgery and dentistry is more common now. Capping your teeth, breast implants, face lifts, and so on. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-era-youre-born-in-affect-your-physical-appearance/736598/22 "2015-11-05T01:27:26Z")
> [@ElderSign](#): > > I do believe that previous generations were TOUGHER than baby boomers, Gen X, and Gen Y, and it may show by style, although some factors such as height, weight, and fitness may further distinguish eras. That’s because the weak ones died of Polio or fighting the Japs on Iwo Jima. > [@bump](#): > > Yeah, I was going to point out that back in the 80s and 90s, the main thing about Kate Upton would have been that she wasn’t rail-thin like most of the SI models of that era. I hate to say it, as I think she’s pretty hot, but she would have been considered “fat” when I was in high school and college, not any sort of curvy paragon of feminine beauty. It was generally more acceptable for celebrities to have less curves and smaller boobs than to be fat at the time, which is somewhat different nowadays. Did you go to Victoria’s Secret Prep or something? Because Kate Upton would make any girl I went to high school with look like a meth-addled hobo. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-era-youre-born-in-affect-your-physical-appearance/736598/23 "2015-11-05T02:24:39Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Did you go to Victoria’s Secret Prep or something? Because Kate Upton would make any girl I went to high school with look like a meth-addled hobo. I think you are thinking of Kate Moss 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-era-youre-born-in-affect-your-physical-appearance/736598/24 "2015-11-05T17:24:51Z")
Huh, I thought this thread was going to go in a different direction. I’ve noticed this phenomenon when it comes to people born in the last century or earlier, versus in the 20th century. I assumed this had to do with immigration waves, especially in the US but globally, too, I guess. For example, the first wave of Hungarian immigrants to the US came in 1849-50, so that’s when the “classically Hungarian” look (whatever that may be) first began to be seen regularly in the US population. Or the first wave of Iranian immigrants to the US began in 1980, so you’re not going to see classically Iranian features among US citizens born in the 19th century. [FYI: please do not nitpick the specific ethnicities I just chose – you know the point I’m trying to make.] You’ll also often hear DVD director commentary on period films that they cast so-and-so actor because they “look like” they come from that period, or conversely, people will complain when a particular actor is cast in a period film that they look “too modern.” Not referring to their fashion or hairstyle, which is appropriate to the period of the movie, but their face. I’ve figured part of this must be due to the actors’ ethnic backgrounds reflecting or clashing with the film’s period of history. For example, if you’re filming a movie set in colonial America, trying to be as accurate as possible, and you need a middle-aged man with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, you’d be better off casting Ben Affleck than Mark Ruffalo. Affleck is of German/Irish/English ancestry, Ruffalo is of mostly Italian ancestry – there weren’t a whole lot of Italians running around in the colonies, while the land was brimming with German, Irish, and English immigrants and their kin. Ruffalo looks “too modern” by this standard. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-era-youre-born-in-affect-your-physical-appearance/736598/25 "2015-11-05T17:27:27Z")
My grandmother was born around 1880, and had a very difficult life when she was young. I have a photo of her taken in the mid-40s, when she was about 65, and her entire face is covered with wrinkles. I remember, back then, most people in her generation had a similar look. Today, people in their 60s or 70s look significantly younger. I just turned 70, and have no wrinkles on my face. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-era-youre-born-in-affect-your-physical-appearance/736598.md?page=1)