I’m not sure that is true.
Stereotypical beauty in women really does seem to be stereotypical. High cheekbones, large eyes, small nose etc. Yes, there are women whose attractiveness is highly debatable (Uma Thruman, Julia Roberts), but usually even the people who say they are attractive will acknowledge that they have unattractive features but are attractive *despite * them. So we all still seem to be on the same page about what makes a woman sterotypically attarctive.
Then we come to men. I’m a straight man, and I can readily see that Ricky Martin, Paul Newman Brad Pitt are very good looking, for example. Those are stereotypically attractive men. The problem is that many men that I am told are unbelievably sexy, to me look ugly.
The classic case for me is Robby Williams. To my eyes the man looks like a cross between a toad and a troll doll. He actually seems quite likeable, I could see him being a good mate, but I can’t see how he could be considered attractive even in a bad light. I would have thought that th choice for Robbie was between “hideous” and “homely”. Yet he has won about a zillion “sexiest man” awards, and I have never met a woman who didn’t think he was gorgeous. Even Tom Cruise, to me, is plain. He has a nice smile, but that’s it. He’s not actually ugly like Robbie, but he is very ordinary. Yet once again, he is considered amontg the most attractive men on the planet.
And this, I think, is the difference.
There is a stereotypically attractive woman, and the more a woman varies from the less attractive she becomes. Women can remain attractive *despite * that variance, but every man will tell you that Julia Roberts would look better is her mouth wasn’t three feet wide, or that Uma Thurman has a really odd jawline.
There is also definitely a stereotpyically attractive male, but many men that are considered highly attractive vary hugely from that stereotype and are considered attractive precisely *because *they vary. If my experience is typical than you will be hard pressed finding a woman who would change even a single feature of Robbie Williams. He is attractive *because *he’s weird looking.
Or maybe I’m full of shit. Anyway, I answered that I have hard time identifying attractive men. That’s not really true, because I can identify *some *attractive men. But the poll didn’t allow any other options.