The EBS study was conducted over three high school (X) lesson. It challenged the widespread assumption that body image concerns primarily affect girls. While researchers have historically focused on girls when examining appearance-related pressure, this inclusive classroom exercise showed that the issue affects boys just as painfully — it simply manifests differently,

The research reveals how teenage boys negotiate impossible ideals, from million-euro pay packets to surgical eye procedures, all while using humor as both shield and critique.

When 45 boys were asked to anonymously write down what makes a man attractive, their answers revealed a world far more complex than simple vanity. Alongside predictable ideals like "muscular" and "tall," the Post-it notes used displayed phrases like "hunter eyes," "Ronaldo teeth," "+10 million a year," and even "intact body navel," a combination of dead-serious expectations and playful mockery which captures how teenage boys really think about appearance.

The study, conducted in three classroom sessions at a high school, challenges the longstanding assumption that body image concerns primarily affect girls. While girls have historically been the focus of appearance pressure research, this participatory exercise demonstrates that boys are equally engaged, they just express it differently.

From towering heights to Henry Cavill's gaze

The 30 beauty standards the students generated paint a picture of an idealized male body that would make even a Marvel superhero insecure by comparison. Physical traits dominated: height specifications like "six foot four" (193 cm) and "six foot five" (196 cm), measurements adopted from U.S. internet culture despite the metric system being used in Estonia.

Desired facial features included a "sharp jawline," "blue eyes," and a "sexy beard," while body attributes such as "rock hard abs," "muscular," and even a "small waist" also made the cut.

But some terms required explanation. When researchers asked about the "hunter eyes" requirement, one of the most talked-about items, several students immediately whipped out their smartphones. They showed images of a fox hunter's intense, focused gaze, then scrolled to photos of British actor Henry Cavill, demonstrating the sharp, commanding look they were after. Some even stated that this effect could be achieved surgically, highlighting how deeply digital culture and medical possibilities shape modern beauty ideals.

"Ronaldo teeth" needed no explanation; the perfectly white, straight smile of the football star (Cristiano Ronaldo – ed.) has become a beauty standard in its own right. One student jokingly called it a "Colgate smile," joining the dots between commercial advertising and athletic celebrity.

The 'Six-foot-four feminist' debate

Perhaps the most revealing finding was how frequently wealth made the lists, despite the exercise explicitly asking students to focus on physical appearance. References to "lots of money" and specific annual income targets such as "+10 mil a year" (ie. €10 million or US$10 million – ed.) emerged repeatedly, across all three groups.

When researchers probed why financial success mattered for appearance, the answer was brutally pragmatic: "With money you can do everything." Students elaborated that wealth enables such things as hair restoration, the use of artificial bones to increase height, or even the wearing of shoes with thicker insoles to appear taller. In their worldview, money had become the ultimate resource, one which could compensate for or enhance any physical trait, positioning socioeconomic status not as a separate thing from appearance, but in fact as foundational to it.

One phrase sparked the liveliest discussion: "Six-foot-four (or in metric: 193 cm) feminist." Some students defended this as representing the "ideal balance" of physical dominance and progressive values; tall enough to be traditionally masculine, enlightened enough to support gender equality. Others dismissed it as pure satire, a joke about contradictory expectations.

This debate encapsulates the broader tension found in the data: The boys were simultaneously endorsing and critiquing beauty standards. They know the ideals are constructed and often absurd, yet they remain culturally resonant all the same.

When having "five fingers" counts as a beauty standard

Humor permeated the exercise too. Contributions like "having five fingers" as a desired trait, an "intact body navel," and "not ugly" provoked peals of laughter. Yet when pressed, some students insisted this was still the case; you wouldn't want to be missing a finger, or have a damaged navel, would you?

This humor served dual purposes. At one level, it allowed boys to deflect vulnerability; making jokes about impossible standards is safer than admitting they might feel any pressure to meet them. At another level, this functioned as critique, acknowledging the absurdity of pursuing perfection while still participating in the dialogue.

The researchers noted that this humor provided a "safe space" for engagement, where the boys could acknowledge cultural expectations without fully committing to them, thus maintaining plausible deniability through irony.

While physical attributes predominated, some students listed interpersonal qualities too, such as "prompt and loyal," "a feminist," and having an "aura," the latter described here as a kind of charisma or magnetic presence which transcends specific physical features.

Intriguingly, the phrase "not looking friendly" appeared multiple times as a desirable trait, suggesting that dominance and aloofness may be valued over warmth in constructing masculine desirability. Sexualized markers referring to being well-endowed reinforced traditional links between masculinity, virility, and attractiveness, too.

The Instagram generation meets traditional masculinity

For decades, body image education has focused almost exclusively on girls, positioning them as uniquely vulnerable to appearance pressures. This research demonstrates that boys are equally engaged with beauty norms; they're just navigating them differently, often through layers of humor, exaggeration, and contradictory statements.

The classroom exercise itself functioned as a micro-intervention. By rendering invisible standards visible, literally displaying them on Post-it notes for group discussion, students could see the contradictions in what they'd collectively written.
They debated whether "hunter eyes" were actually realistic, questioned the feasibility of earning millions, and laughed at the absurdity of listing "five fingers" while simultaneously recognizing its grain of truth.

The researchers argued that such participatory methods should be integrated into media literacy and body confidence education. Rather than lecturing boys about unrealistic standards, creating spaces where they can articulate, examine, and critique these standards themselves may be far more effective, the study found.

What makes the research particularly timely is its intersection with social media culture. Terms like "hunter eyes" and visual references to celebrity features show how digitally circulating images, from Henry Cavill memes to Cristiano Ronaldo's sponsored posts, directly shape adolescent beauty ideals.

The study reveals that boys are conducting their own form of social comparisons, filtered via algorithms that prioritize the most extreme examples of physical perfection. Sportspeople, influencers, and actors become the baseline against which ordinary teenagers measure themselves, and as the students' comments about surgical enhancement and height-increasing procedures show, they're aware of the technological interventions that create these images.

Why This Matters

Boys are not disengaged from appearance concerns; they are actively involved in negotiating complex, often contradictory ideals which span physical traits, economic success, and social status.

By centering boys' own voices, their Post-it notes, their smartphone references, their debates about what counts as attractive, the study demonstrates that they have plenty to say. We just need to give them the platform to say it and the tools to think critically about what they're saying.
After all, as the students themselves demonstrated, sometimes the best way to challenge an impossible standard is to write it down, stick it on a wall, and laugh at it together while still acknowledging that it is "kind of true."

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The study was conducted with 45 male high school students aged 18 in Estonia via participatory classroom exercises. Participants anonymously listed perceived male beauty standards, which were then displayed and discussed collectively. The findings have implications for developing more inclusive body image education that addresses pressures faced by adolescent boys.

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