Americans love super plump lips
You might think Kylie Jenner started the plump lip trend with her lip kits, but America’s obsession with plump lips goes way back into the past. According to Jamie Gordon, an anthropologist, partner, and cultural strategist at Culture Agency in Atlanta, Ga., our fascination for the perfect pout started in the 1950s, when Marilyn Monroe began her ascension to stardom and sex symbol status. From an anthropological point of view, wide hips and “full lips signal not only sensuality but being excited about having sex,” pointed out Gordon.
In today’s age of lip fillers, plump lips have become even more popular and desired. According to Michael C. Edwards, president of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, their popularity might have also been shaped by social media and pop culture. But not every culture finds big lips attractive. In Japan and in China, for instance, women with thinner or more balanced lips are considered more attractive.
Blonde hair
Speaking of Marilyn Monroe, it’s pretty clear that some Americans like it hot…or should we say, blonde. With merely two percent of the world’s population and five percent of Caucasian Americans having naturally blonde hair, no wonder blondes are considered extremely attractive. In fact, one study found that American men believe women with light hair are more attractive and healthier than their brunette or ginger counterparts. For this reason, many people in the United States go platinum.
Being blonde, however, can also be a strategic move, according to Jennifer Berdahl, a sociology professor at the University of British Columbia. when it comes to women working for big corporations, “if the package is feminine, disarming and childlike, you can get away with more assertive, independent and [stereotypically] masculine behavior.” In the words of Paris Hilton, “That’s hot!”
