The masculine beauty ideal is a set of cultural beauty standards for men which change based on the historical era and the geographic region.[1] These standards are ingrained in men from a young age to increase their perceived physical attractiveness.[2]
Masculine beauty ideals are mainly rooted in heteronormative beliefs about hypermasculinity, but they heavily influence men of all sexual orientations and gender identities.[3] The masculine beauty ideal traits include but are not limited to: male body shape, figure, beefcake, height, skin tones, body weight, muscle mass, male breast size, masculine hip size, physical fitness, hair and genital size.[4] Men oftentimes feel social pressure to conform to these standards in order to feel desirable, and thus elect to alter their bodies through processes such as extreme dieting, bodybuilding, male breast muscle enlargement, male buttock enlargement, radical fitness regimens, skin whitening, tanning, genital enlargement, and other bodily surgical modifications.[5][6][7]