By: Grace Lee

In the 80s or 90s, if you asked what looks made a man look attractive, the answer would almost always come back the same. Men with blue eyes that looked like Brad Pitt or Leonardo DiCaprio. However, in recent decades, with the help of film and fashion industries that now embrace greater diversity for the standard of beauty, and understand the importance of representation, the standard for what makes a man “attractive” now differs greatly across media.

Social media apps are also helping to change male beauty standards by positioning men who would once have been considered far from ‘perfect’ be seen as attractive. Ben James, a plus-sized model, took part in an advertising campaign for clothing brand Simply Be, appearing alongside many models with different looks. He has also worked with Ted Baker and Asos.

Platforms like Rihanna’s lingerie brand Savage Fenty have also helped normalize and bring the limelight to larger men, who would have once been considered ugly. “Stereotypical male aesthetics and behaviors are changing,” says Alexander Edmonds, Professor of anthropology at the University of Edinburgh. According to Edmonds, “Due to the legacy of slavery and colonialism, western images of the beautiful man have always been very white, and in the past, there were fewer barriers for this to change but this may be happening now.”

As the fashion industry will continue to diversify, we may find ourselves having no clear definition of a male beauty standard. Are current trends a sign of growing democratization of male beauty?