As the world shifts and turns, so do notions of ideal male beauty.
Beauty is often thought of as the realm of women. But men too have, since time immemorial in fact, been subjected to an ideal aesthetic. In each period of history and in every culture, there existed an idea of how the “ideal man” should look.
From the physical perfection to which the ancient Greeks aspired to the rise of the so-called “rodent men” in present-day Hollywood, The POST explores how the idea of male beauty has shifted over time.
Classical notions of male beauty
From as far back as the 6th century in Greece, there was already been a stereotype, a template against which a man’s beauty is measured. Archaeological artifacts from that period have shown how the ancient Greeks put much importance on the connection between youth and beauty, as per an article on The Collector. In the Attica region of Greece, for instance, one can behold statues of young men in serious, uptight poses called the kouros, meaning “youth.”
But more than just aspiring for physical perfection, young Greek men had to live up to the ideal of aretē, the sum total of moral excellence, military skill, nobility, and on top of good looks.
TIL: Ancient Greek sculptures have small penises because a large penis was a symbol of barbarism and the inability to control one’s desires. Since an ideal man was supposed to be beautiful not only from the outside but also from the inside, a need to distinguish oneself as civilized had to be demonstrated on the outside, and a smaller penis that connotes “control” and “civility.” Historian Paul Chrystal says in his book In Bed with the Ancient Greeks (2016), as quoted in an article on Artsy: “It (small penis) was a badge of the highest culture and a paragon of civilization.”
Tiny wee-wees aside, the idealized human form was the noblest subject of art in Greece and was the foundation for a standard of beauty that dominated many centuries of Western art.
There was a noticeable shift in what connotes being handsome during the ancient Roman times. During this era, there was an increase in the number of powerful individuals who did not necessarily embody physical beauty. It was during this time when the idea of political power began to overtake classical Greek notions of beauty.
Thus, many portraits from the Roman era were more realistic in stark contrast with their Greek counterparts. Old age was depicted in sculptures, complete with wrinkles, even “deformities.” The article on The Collector explains that for the ancient Romans, “beauty could be covered with wealth and power.”
Despite being more realistic than Greek art, one has to bear in mind that the chief purpose of Roman art was to “appease, celebrate, and venerate emperors.” Hence, in Roman sculpture, the priority of the artists was to emphasize the strength and power of their rulers over realism.
With the rise of Christianity and with it the concept of “guilt” or “shame,” artworks from the Medieval period, meanwhile, saw a covering up of bodies as opposed to the nudity appreciated by both the Greeks and Romans. With a few exceptions, as in Christ on the cross wearing only a loincloth, the human body was seen as something shameful that had to be hidden.
Enter the Renaissance. With a renewed interest in science came a renewed interest in the human body as an example of perfection. A perfect example of this is the quintessential Renaissance man Leonardo da Vinci’s The Vitruvian Man—a standing nude male with a frowning face, two pairs of arms, and legs drawn in a perfect circle and a square. Da Vinci’s unique approach combined mathematics and art to demonstrate his understanding of proportion and an attempt to relate man to nature.
It was Michelangelo’s David and all its “imperfections,” however, that serves as the embodiment of the Renaissance ideals of male beauty. You don’t have to go to the Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze to see that the sculpture’s proportions are far from perfect. All you need is a clear photo and you’ll see that David has a torso, legs, and a neck that were unusually slender — yet, Michelangelo was a master sculptor and every bit of these imperfections were intentional.
From jolie-laide to ‘rodent’ men
As an older millennial, I grew up with the concept of male beauty that skewed heavily toward the blond, blue-eyed template in Hollywood. Think Brad Pitt and Leonardo di Caprio. If an actor doesn’t fit that template, at least he should have fair skin, an aquiline nose, and a fit body: Tom Cruise, Keanu Reeves, and George Clooney come to mind. I also remember my teenage self gushing over Robert Downey Jr. and Hugh Grant from the romcoms of yesteryears. Heath Ledger, with his curly hair and bad-boy persona, was my ultimate bias as a high schooler.
In the local entertainment scene, growing up my concept of what makes someone gwapo was encapsulated in one man: Richard Gomez, the epitome of the Filipino ideal of tall, dark, and handsome.
Looking at showbiz personalities that were more my age, there’s Jericho Rosales and maybe Dingdong Dantes, slightly older is Piolo Pascual, who despite not being “dark” ticks all the boxes of what makes a man handsome (or maybe I’m just biased because Papa P will always be the most handsome Pinoy actor for me, and I’ll willingly die on that hill).
Filipinos also have a weakness for ‘halfies,’ biracial actors such as Derek Ramsay, Sam Milby, and Gerald Anderson, and for the younger ones, Enrique Gil and James Reid.
But as times change, so does the idea of male beauty, as shown in our short history lesson. Fast forward to the present, where social media apps have an immense impact on our perceptions of beauty and where the entertainment and fashion industries have pivoted to diversity and inclusivity to remain relevant, needless to say, what makes a man handsome has also changed—and quite drastically at that.
With social media platforms democratizing fame and the increasing influence of non-Western soft power, particularly Korean and Japanese, the concept of male beauty has become more encompassing.
If previously the idealized standard of the male physique has always been the chiseled, gym-toned type, chunkier men and those with ‘dad bods’ aren’t that frowned upon anymore. Rihanna’s lingerie brand Savage Fenty has helped normalize and has given a platform to larger men, for instance.
British model, body-positive activist, and social media star Ben James, meanwhile, continues to challenge the way we perceive larger men. In 2019, as a plus-sized model, he took part in an advertising campaign for clothing brand Simply Be, appearing alongside other diverse models, and has worked with Ted Baker and Asos. He says in a BBC interview that his work “gives comfort and confidence to boys and men alike, it tells them that they are wanted and they are worthy.”
“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,” says Alexandra Edmonds, professor of anthropology at the University of Edinburgh, as quoted in the same BBC article. Social movements such as Black Lives Matter have made brands recognize the need for diversity and for marginalized groups to see and feel that they are represented.
“Stereotypical male aesthetics and behaviors are changing,” adds Edmonds. “They’re no longer the ideal for younger people, Generation Z champion androgyny. This is happening a lot in East Asia, especially in South Korean pop culture.”
With the massive global influence of K-pop, the ideal male beauty can now also be more feminine. Male K-pop idols, for instance, are not ones to shy away from colorful hair, heavy make-up, and more flamboyant, even androgynous, fashion choices. This type of male beauty would be deemed unorthodox by traditional Western standards – but is now highly influential in mainstream media, the BBC article states.
Even grand old dame Hollywood is not immune to these shifts. Once the stomping grounds of white actors, tinseltown has come to embrace the beauty in diversity, sometimes though at the risk of tokenism or cultural appropriation—though we are not here for that topic today.
More and more actors of color are getting plum roles, with many of them considered not just talented but also handsome. There’s Michael B. Jordan, Idris Elba, Henry Golding Jr., and our very own Manny Jacinto who has been an internet darling as of late (long overdue methinks) for his acting prowess and beautiful face (UGH that jawline).
Even young white Hollywood actors have been seeing changes when it comes to the traditional notion of being handsome. Sure there’s still the likes of Paul Mescal, Nicholas Galitzine, and Jacob Elordi, who fit the classic view of what makes a man good looking, but more and more celebrities that don’t fit in this mold are being seen as desirable, too.
For example, there is a crop of actors (and actresses) which is a perfect fit for the French term jolie-laide, literally “ugly-beautiful,” a concept that embodies the intersection between attractiveness and unconventionality that makes us relish and appreciate imperfection, as per a report on The Atlantic.
Leading the way for all the jolie-laide actors out there is the inimitable Benedict Cumberbatch, described by many as “the antithesis of everything we’re supposed to find attractive,” but whom we find attractive nonetheless.
Then there’s Daniel Craig, who is quite the anomaly compared against the roster of James Bond actors who came before him. There’s even a whole Reddit thread dedicated to analyzing why he is the ugliest Bond actor of all time if the “Greek Golden Ratio of Beauty Phi” were to be used as the gauge. Still, we can’t deny that Craig is a magnetic presence, and his wife Rachel Weisz will agree. Other celebrities who could be lumped under the jolie-laide category are Adam Driver, Benicio del Toro, Javier Bardem, and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.
More recently, Hollywood has seen a rise in the so-called “rodent men” (goodness, I still let out a chuckle every time I encounter the term). According to American tabloids, they’re “the most physically desirable thing a man can be at this particularly disorienting moment in American history.” An article on The New York Times lists down Jeremy Allen White, Barry Keoghan, Mike Faist, Josh O’Connor, Rami Malek, and Matty Healy as representative of this category of men who people say look like mice or rats.
Even Timothée Chalamet gets into this mix, but Joseph Bernstein of The New York Times exclaims (and I agree): “I have to say, I don’t really see it with Chalamet. To me, he looks feline—and cats are the enemies of rodents!” On the older end of the pole, Willem Dafoe gets occasionally described as a rodent man, but I find his features more reptilian, to be honest (this story, I’m afraid, is taking a zoological turn).
“Rodent men” are described to be “mousy,” with a toothy smile, and instead of a chiseled face like Pitt’s or Chris Hemsworth’s, theirs are pointier, much like your pet mouse’s or a street rat’s snout. For one to be classified as a “rodent man,” it’s also important for the face to be angular and for the ears to be larger than normal.
Taking all these into consideration, they can also be described as unconventionally handsome, much like the jolie-laide celebrities before them.
As the world shifts and turns, so do our ideas and standards of what constitutes male beauty. Will the hallmarks of K-beauty stand the test of time? Will mouse-like features continue to be desirable in the months and years to come? Will Southeast Asian features be the next ‘it’ aesthetic (Manny Jacinto we’re counting on you!)?
We can only guess what concepts of ideal male beauty will capture or collective imagination next. For now, let me continue appreciating the beauty of my favorite Korean stars and rodent men (ha!).
