Battle of the sexes: Which is the more 'beautiful' sex?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-05-27 09:01

Australia; International; QLD

Paul Wontorra and Eugen Wassiliwizky using royalty-free photographs from Pexels

Female faces are consistently rated as more attractive than males, according to Aussie and international researchers who reviewed data from previous studies where people rated facial attractiveness. The team found that - unlike in many other species, where males are usually more ornamental - the results show that in humans, female faces are often considered more attractive across cultures and age groups. The team found this 'Gender Attractiveness Gap (GAP)' to be more pronounced among female raters – with women showing an even stronger preference for female faces than men, while men tended to show more stringency with their ratings. The authors say the findings show facial attractiveness judgments extend beyond heterosexual mate choice.

News release

From: The Royal Society

The Gender Attractiveness Gap

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Why are women often considered the “beautiful sex,” unlike most species where males are more ornamented? Using the largest global dataset of facial-attractiveness ratings to date, we show that female faces are consistently rated more attractive than male faces across cultures and age groups. This “Gender Attractiveness Gap” is especially pronounced among female raters and is absent when people rate their own attractiveness. Analyses of facial structure suggest that differences in masculinity and femininity partly explain the effect. Overall, our findings show that human attractiveness judgments are shaped by both biological features and social factors, extending beyond simple mate choice.

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Journal/
conference: Proceedings B

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: The University of Queensland, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Germany

Funder: K.K. was supported by the Czech Science Foundation (GA24-11735S).

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