Cheekbones of high-fashion models vs. more normal-looking cheekbones
The cheekbones of high-fashion models are usually not feminine-looking. They are disproportionately robust and usually placed high on the face, both of which are consistent with masculinization.
More systematic evidence for robust cheekbones among high-fashion models has been provided by cosmetic surgeon Stephen Marquardt. Marquardt has derived a mask -- from the golden ratio -- that he claims describes the facial proportions of the most attractive people, irrespective of sex or ethnicity. His mask is, of course, meaningless because facial proportions notably differ across continental human populations and between the sexes. Nevertheless, his claim that white women are more likely than African-American women or sub-Saharan African women to have a face broader than the mask clearly reflects a major sampling bias on his part because whether one considers absolute dimensions or shape [with size controlled for], white women have, on average, narrower faces than African-American women or sub-Saharan African women, which should be common observation and is also something that has been well-described in the literature.(1-3) Marquardt's sampling bias results from his heavy reliance on high-fashion models to develop his mask, which is especially obvious in the structure of his mask.
The robust cheekbones of many high-fashion models (left column below) sharply contrast with the more population-typical regressed cheekbones of a number of glamour models (right column below) that have not been selected for being feminine; the galmour models range from feminine to slightly masculinized. The sampling below is biased to exaggerate the differences between the two groups for clarification purposes, but the directionality of the differences -- namely flared, higher and more robust cheekbones among high-fashion models, on average -- reflects reality.
References:
- Howells, W. W., Skull shapes and the map, Pap Peabody Museum Archaeol Ethnol, 79, 1 (1989).
- Porter, J. P., and Olson, K. L., Anthropometric facial analysis of the African American woman, Arch Facial Plast Surg, 3, 191 (2001).
- Hennessy, R. J., and Stringer, C. B., Geometric morphometric study of the regional variation of modern human craniofacial form, Am J Phys Anthropol, 117, 37 (2002).