(PR NewsChannel) / October 17, 2012 / TAMPA, Fla.
As two men battle it out in the presidential debate, a new study from UCLA suggests that conservative women politicians are prettier than their Democratic counterparts.
The study finds that female politicians with stereotypically feminine facial features are more likely to be Republican than Democrat. And get this: The correlation increases the more conservative the lawmaker’s voting record.
“I suppose we could call it the ‘Michele Bachmann effect,’” says Kerri Johnson, the study’s senior author and an assistant professor of communication studies and psychology at UCLA.
Using photos of 434 members of the U.S. House of Representatives which were fed into a computer, the study compared the faces to the norm for their sex and evaluated more than 100 dimensions including the shape of the jaw, the location of eyebrows, the placement of cheek bones, the shape of eyes, and the fullness of the lips. The results showed that Republican women were twice as “feminine” as Democratic women.
Tampa cosmetic surgeon and face expert, Richard Castellano, M.D., says it’s further proof that society has become increasingly visual and that appearances play an active and critical part in personal and professional relationships.
“This study is very powerful in showing how meaningful our appearance is,” said Castellano. “We communicate to others our age, personality, and as this study shows, even political persuasions from our appearance.”
The study does not address whether any of these politicians have lobbied a cosmetic surgeon like Dr. Castellano to look this good. And Castellano’s not saying.
“Generally speaking, more patients in my practice tend to be Republican than Democratic, which can support the finding of the study that Republican women are associated with a more feminine appearance. Though, Mother Nature ages all of us regardless of your political preferences.”
Castellano adds that as women age, their features can lose femininity.
“The fullness in the cheeks can wane and fall, and the jawline will sag. A full and pouty set of lips can become less defined,” said Castellano. “A big part of what I do is help women maintain and regain their femininity in their facial appearance.”
The Tampa cosmetic surgeon stresses the importance of appearance as a very powerful tool to make an impression and men—even presidential candidates—ought to pay attention too.
“In the debates there’s lots of talk about what the candidates say. But how they look is also very important. Whether we like it or not, the perception of our appearance makes a difference in what we think and feel about others,” says Castellano.
Source: PR News Channel
