
Sometimes you have to search outside the box to find what you’ve been hunting for.
All cultures have their own standard of beauty, and Japan is no exception. Among the typical list of “ideal woman” attributes are things like pale skin, big eyes, slender arms and legs, and a…small face? That’s right, the size of your face can also play a factor in your cuteness. Small faces are thought to appear more cute and feminine in Japanese culture.
So, when you compile all of these elements into a big old “Ideal Woman Qualifications” checklist, your choices are pretty limited. Thankfully, Japanese Twitter users have helped us uncover The One. Prepare yourself to be amazed. Feast your eyes on this…
▼ Ta da!
…praying mantis.
https://twitter.com/_Aym1020_/status/746692177426669568Yep, this is the body you’ve been longing for. A praying mantis has many attractive features, including (but not limited to):
“Small face
Sharp features
Large eyes
Slender arms
Slender legs
Exquisite proportions”
This praying mantis strikes a coquettish pose reminiscent of Japanese gyaru fashion.
The initial Tweet quickly grew in popularity and continued to elicit responses that were both funny and eerily accurate.
“She’s a supermodel!”
“But she has no chest…!”
“You should add ‘can eat meat without gaining any weight.'”
“Don’t female praying mantises eat the males after they mate?”
“I guess that makes her super nikushokukei.”
You could say female mantises are man eaters in the truest sense of the word.
This may be a (hilarious) representation of Japanese beauty ideals, but this certainly isn’t the Ultimate Body Type. In fact, netizens have bickered over whether the slim, long-legged type or the slightly more curvy and busty type of girl was considered the Japanese beauty standard.
But in the end, we all know that it’s inner beauty and happiness that counts, right?
Or…maybe we should all just start idolizing the praying mantis.
Sources: JIN, Twitter, RocketNews24
Images: Twitter, Wikimedia Commons


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