Now, you may not speak Spanish, Japanese, or French, but every culture celebrates beauty. That’s one thing that simply cannot get lost in translation. However, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and depending on what motherland you’ve dug your heals into, the defining factors for attractiveness may be different. For example, in many countries (including Mexico, India and the Philippines) where natives have a naturally darker complexion, skin whitening products litter convenience store shelves; while in countries where natives have a naturally fair complexion have tanners and bronzers all over their supermarket’s beauty aisle. So before you go singing, “Hey little chica from Guadeloupe, that thing you got behind you is amazing,” you may want to double check whether you live up to her and her culture’s standards.

Joi Ong

Burma and Thailand

The women of the Kayan tribes of Burma and Thailand believe that their attractiveness is related to the perceived length of their necks. Because of this, they wear metal rings around their necks. The process begins at the tender age of five and continues throughout the woman’s life, adding more rings through time. Theses rings pushes down the woman’s collar bones, compressing her ribs and giving off the illusion of a longer neck. Although one theory states that the Kayan tribe began this practice to make their women unattractive to other tribesmen, the woman who have worn the rings for a long time prefer to because they hide the bruises and scars on their necks or they have become an extension of their image.

Joi Ong

Japan

In the land of the rising sun, women hold their skin and complexion to the highest regard. It is very important for them to have smooth and soft skin without any marks. In order to keep their skin healthy, Japanese women often ingest collagen-infused food and drinks — while Americans choose to use collagen injections.

Collagen is a naturally occurring protein that can be found exclusively in animals. It is responsible for the strength and elasticity of one’s skin, and its degradation causes the formation of wrinkles. The protein is most commonly used in gelatin; however, that doesn’t mean that Japanese women are on an all-jiggle-no-wiggle diet - those dessert cups will do you no good. Instead, they purchase special meats with extra collagen and mix collagen powder in their beverages.

China

Although it has long since been outlawed, the effects of foot binding can still be seen today. Centuries ago, bound feet was a sign of wealth and became a deciding factor in whether a Chinese woman would find a husband. Therefore, mothers started binding their daughters’ feet at the young age of three in order to achieve the idealized three-inch “lotus foot.” Despite its banning when the British came in 1912 and its detrimental effects such as lower bone density and hip and spine problems, women continued to bend to the wealthy Chinese men’s foot fetish. Today, one may wonder about the appeal of concave-shaped feet, but maybe the Qing dynasty’s collection of pornography books listing 48 ways to play with women’s bound feet might help paint the picture.

Joi Ong

New Zealand

While some may agree that tattoos can be attractive and add a uniqueness to a person’s image, the Maori people of New Zealand take this to a new level. Both the men and women Maori people have t- moko, a permanent body and face marking, because, depending on its location, it indicatees social status. While men wear their moko on their faces, buttocks and thighs, women are only allowed to wear moko on their lips and chin.