Udmurt Auto- and Hetero-Stereotypes about Physical Beauty
Udmurt Auto- and Hetero-Stereotypes about Physical Beauty

Summary/Abstract: For Udmurtians, physical beauty is an attractive and impressive physique. In the late 19th century, Udmurt criteria for evaluating physical beauty were influenced by the aesthetic ideals of neighbouring peoples. A beautiful girl was supposed to have Slavic or Turkic features but not Udmurt ones. Northern Udmurts believed that an attractive young woman was faircomplexioned with fair hair and blue eyes, while southern Udmurts admired women with dark hair and black eyes. One can still hear them saying, “She is so beautiful, she doesn’t look like an Udmurt girl at all,” which is followed by more precise information, such as, “She looks like a Russian/Tatar woman.” This stereotype still exists among the Udmurts and their neighbouring peoples, especially the Russians.

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