Canthal tilt

Categories: Aesthetics, Anatomy

The '''canthal tilt''' is the angle of the [[lateral canthus]] (outside corner of [[eye]]) in relation to the [[medial canthus]] (inside corner of eye). 

A '''positive canthal''' (PCT) tilt means the lateral canthus is higher on the face in relation to the medial canthus.<ref name="Cohen">https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-14092-2 p. 26</ref> 

In contrast, '''a negative canthal tilt''' (NCT) means the lateral canthus is lower on the face than the medial canthus. A '''neutral canthal tilt''' is where one can roughly draw a straight horizontal line between the medial and lateral canthus.
A negative canthal tilt is widely considered an unattractive feature.<ref>https://magnumworkshop.com/canthal-tilt-and-attractiveness/</ref>

In men, having a negative canthal tilt is often deemed a feature that imparts a 'dopey', unalert aspect to a man's appearance that is the opposite of the intimidating and piercing '[[hunter eyes]]' that many consider ideal for men.
However, some argue that an overly positive canthal tilt is not ideal either,<ref>https://forum.looksmaxxing.com/threads/is-his-canthal-tilt-too-positive.6103/</ref> as it can make one look 'alien like' or otherwise unusual. This may be because overly upslanted-looking eyes are associated with developmental disorders, such as microcephaly.<ref>https://elementsofmorphology.nih.gov/index.cgi?tid=f103f00fcb26b7c4</ref> 
An extreme negative canthal tilt can also present with rare genetic disorders that interfere with the correct symmetrical development of the palpebral fissure, a symptom which is called euryblepharon.<ref name="Cohen2">https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-14092-2 p. 277</ref> Thus extremes in both directions are associated with an unusual and generally unattractive appearance.
Some plastic surgeons have proposed that the 'ideal' canthal tilt for men is no more than 1-2° in men and 3-4° in women.<ref>https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23186763/</ref>

In a study conducted, 93% of people preferred [[women]] with positive canthal tilts,<ref>Is Medial Canthal Tilt a Powerful Cue for Facial Attractiveness? Article in Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 23(1):52-6 · January 2007</ref> and it is a feature found more often in individuals with particularly attractive faces (beauty competition winners) compared to average looking control subjects among individuals of both sexes.<ref>https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24857159/ p. 129</ref> A positive canthal tilt is likely considered particularly attractive among females as it is a pedomorphic (childlike) neotenous trait that is more pronounced among infants, and neoteny is a strong component of female human facial attractiveness.<ref>https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17237692/ p. 55</ref> As the tendons and ligaments around the canthus weaken with age the eye often begins to shift to a negative canthal tilt, with surgeries such as canthoplasty often being sought out to correct this.<ref>https://www.danielezra.co.uk/media/blog/canthoplasty-procedure</ref>
Therefore a negative canthal tilt is also often a sign of facial aging, which is particularly detrimental to female facial attractiveness.<ref>https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34455180/</ref> 

Canthal tilt is also mildly sexually dimorphic, with women being more likely to have upward slanting eyes than men, at least among Caucasians.<ref>https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17237692/ p. 55</ref><ref>https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33136915/</ref> A positive canthal tilt is also more common among East Asians, however female East Asian faces that are judged to be particularly attractive have a less pronounced positive canthal tilt than what is typical for those populations, a situation which is reversed in regards to female Caucasian and African faces.<ref>https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00266-012-9937-7 p. 1240</ref>

==Examples==
<gallery mode="packed" widths="400" heights="300">
File:Jacob_Elordi_for_Vanity_Fair_02.jpg|A man with a slight negative canthal tilt (actor Jacob Elordi)
File:Oliver_Cheshire_2013.jpg|A man with a strong positive canthal tilt (model Oliver Cheshire)
</gallery>

== See also ==
*[[:Category:Aesthetics|List of aesthetics]]
*[[Neoteny]]
*[[Hunter eyes]]
== References ==
<references />

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[[Category:Aesthetics]]
[[Category:Anatomy]]