Some women—especially American women—like their men carved and chiseled: the arms and abs of a Roman statue, the belly V of a Ken doll, and the rugged looks of literally every member of Ocean's Eleven.
Weekend One-Up: 7-Minute Upper-Lower Body Challenge (; 0:48)
But this is America. As you travel the world you will find that the perfect male physique changes depending on who is looking for it. Some women, for example, pass an eight-pack in favor of a grizzly-sized man with stony shoulders and what appears to be a beer belly. Others, on the other hand, are satisfied with an average skinny guy.
And we have the photos to prove it.
UK-based medical internet service Superdrug Online Doctor (strange name, we know) commissioned graphic designers from 19 countries around the world to Photoshop an image of a man to reflect what the designers envisioned their country's preferences to reflect. (The project was inspired by journalist Esther Honig's 2014 series Before and After, in which she asked 25 designers around the world to retouch their photo according to local beauty standards.)
Here is the original photo that the designers received:
So no, the original "model" won't be winning any IFBB physique competitions any time soon.
Below are some of the formulations from the Superdrug Online Doctor survey. Some designers - like those in the US, Egypt and the Philippines - opted for the sculpted physique.
Others stayed closer to the original, as in Pakistan, Nigeria and Spain.
And the UK was notable for seriously thinning out the test subject, who appears to have miraculously lost his love handles and gut.
Check out the full list of comparisons on the original site.
