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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder—or so the saying goes. However, there's also the unspoken rule of beauty standards that varies country to country. It's widely accepted that what is beautiful in one part of the world might not be pleasant in another, which adds to diversity on the global scale. But there's another side to it, as it inflicts somewhat harsh standards on people. In order to point this out, an experiment was conducted by Superdrug Online Doctor to take a closer look at the local beauty standards in several countries and compare how they hold up against each other. According to them, "Since what is perceived as beautiful can vary substantially around the world, our study of the ideal body image attempted to compare as diverse opinions as possible."

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Spain

Spain

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China

China

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USA

USA

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In order to explore the different perceptions of beauty in various corners of the world, the site contacted 18 graphic designers and provided them with an original picture of a girl. The goal was for those designers to recreate the picture to reflect the local beauty standards. "Widely held perceptions of beauty and perfection can have a deep and lasting cultural impact on both women and men," said Superdrug Online Doctor. "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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Colombia

Colombia

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Peru

Peru

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Italy

Italy

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The original intent was to have female graphic designers edit the picture in order to have a clearer, woman’s view of what their culture finds attractive and "to understand more about the pressures they face." However, the list of partner designers was expanded to include 4 men, with the requirement that they would seek input from women and change the picture based on their feedback.

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UK

UK

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Egypt

Egypt

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Mexico

Mexico

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End results render the photo almost unrecognizable in some cases. Some countries in North and South America lean towards an exaggerated hourglass figure, presenting a somewhat unrealistic view of women, while certain European and Asian countries favor a very slim and petite build, which in some cases is steering towards unhealthy. Superdrug Online Doctor stated they are planning to further expand the study, with the possibility to include men next time as well.

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South Africa

South Africa

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Philippines

Philippines

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Venezuela

Venezuela

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Serbia

Serbia

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Ukraine

Ukraine

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Netherlands

Netherlands

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Romania

Romania

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Argentina

Argentina

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Syria

Syria

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