The Ideal Beauty in Surfer and Beach Culture

In Surfer and Beach culture, the ideal is a tanned, slim and muscular athletic body. Hair is sun-streaked or, recently, artificially coloured with layered streaks of bleach. A somewhat angular torso with long limbs and broad shoulders is preferred, and broad shoulders are acceptable or somewhat idealised even on a girl. The body is somewhat angular, the male displaying beside the square shoulders, a long straight back and flat stomach and square hips. The female body is more triangular, often carrying sturdy shoulders and a wide upper torso which angles down to a small flat stomach, accompanied with angular hips. The legs on the girl can be somewhat short and sturdy in comparison to the general western slim ideal. In contrast to the general Western ideal, freckling is generally acceptable especially when it only covers the body and not the face, as long as the skin has tanned, and is idealised on childrens' faces. The ideal is very youthful and is usually portrayed in its teenaged or early-twenties stage.

This ideal dominates Australia generally, and many beachside areas of the US and New Zealand, as well as surfer and beach subculture internationally.