What makes a face appear masculine?

 Find out how a few features can make a face more masculine

Photo by Omid Armin on Unsplash

There are endless differences between men and women. The term used to identify these nuances is ‘sexual dimorphism’.

Sexual dimorphism is the distinct difference in appearance or size between the sexes of an animal.

Even though humans are less sexually dimorphic than other animals, there are still glaring differences between the male and female face.

In this article, I have compiled a list of masculine traits, leaving behind those which require you to go measure the size of a skull or something as challenging as that.

A good number of these features are dictated by the hormone known as testosterone as it is present in greater amounts in men.


  • A prominent brow ridge
(Credit: Jemal Countess/Getty Images North America)

A pronounced brow ridge makes the eyes seem deeper set and protected. They make the eyes appear wider and narrower, which gives a more masculine appearance to the eyes. This is also referred to as “hunter eyes".

The opposite of “hunter eyes" are the “prey eyes” which are narrow and roundish and they appear almost frog-like.


  • Higher facial width to height ratio (fwhr)
(Credit: CC0 Public Domain)

During puberty, the facial width to height ratio increases. The face gets wider overall. The higher the facial width to height ratio, the more compact the midface is. Fwhr has been linked to aggression, fearlessness and dominance.


  • Thick eyebrows
(Credit: chiclashboutique.com)

Thicker eyebrows are a sign of higher developmental testosterone. Compared to the rest of the hair on the human body, eyebrows do not thin out with age. For men, the eyebrows can even get thicker in their sixties! For women, that growth seizes far earlier due to a lower level of testosterone compared to men.


  • Bigonial to bizygomatic width

The bigonial width is the distance between the gonions and the bizygomatic width is the distance between the zygions.

The ideal ratio for men would be for the bigonial width to be between 90% and 100% of the bizygomatic width.

This basically means that the jaw width is the same as the cheekbone width.

This ratio also determines the face shape of the person. A square face shape is the most masculine face shape for men.


  • Larger nose

Men have greater nose prominence and a larger nose overall. A study from the university of Iowa shows that male noses are on average ten percent larger.

This is due to, according to them, more oxygen being needed for muscle tissue growth and maintenance as men have higher levels of lean muscle mass.


  • Strong and more robust looking lower third

The lower third basically refers to the jaw area of the face (known as the mandible). Men on average have wider jaws and a stronger jawline.

Men also tend to have more squared chins.

(Credit: sciencedirect.com)

The ramus length also tends to be longer in males. This also determines the face shape.

The gonial angle is the angle where the ramus meets the mandible. The average male gonial angle is around 128°. More acute angles are considered more masculine.

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