Why Do Men In Old Yearbooks Look So Much Better?

A woman on X, @taylor_vahey, opened up the digital version of Harvard’s 1955 yearbook in an attempt to find a picture of her grandfather. She found that, compared to the soft-faced , scruff-covered men of today, the clean-shaven guys from 1955 looked older, more masculine – and frankly, way more attractive. “Observation: there are no women & the facial physiognomy is drastically different to the point where 60% of the men I’m looking at are attractive & today I find 10% of men attractive,” she tweeted, “wtf happened?!” In recent months, viewers have complained about how they used to see handsome, strong men on TV. Now we have "rodent men" and "fruity boys" taking over the industry. What Could It Be? She wondered if “maybe it’s the absence of hair on the face,” adding that “in 1955, likely under 20% of men had facial hair.” Vahey also noted how “in 2025, 33% of men have facial hair of some kind.” Facial hair is not for her. “Personally, if a man has a beard or mustache, there’s a 0% chance I’ll find him attractive,” she wrote. “To me, it looks messy, like you are trying to hide your face, it kinda wigs me out the same way men don’t like a women to have hairy armpits or legs.” Now, you can debate her taste all day long, but the larger point is hard to ignore: men used to look very different. The men of that time (even through the '80s) did not seem to have the same bone structure, skin clarity, or posture. People love to chalk this up to “genetics.” But if that were the case, wouldn’t we still be seeing these faces now? Many commenters on X believe it may have to do with low testosterone levels. It’s true: men today have significantly lower testosterone than their counterparts from even a few decades ago. A study in 2007 showed a 1% drop per year since the 1980s. That means a 25-year-old in 2005 had 25% less testosterone than a 25-year-old in 1980. Some of that’s lifestyle; less movement, more stress, worse food. But the big biggest culprit may be endocrine disruptors like phthalate, parabens, and BPA. You’ll find them in plastics, cosmetics, tap water, fast food wrappers, medicine, detergent, and even vinyl flooring. These chemicals interfere with the body’s hormone production and reception. Our poor eating habits and constant exposure to processed, chemical-laden foods may also be affecting the way men look today. In 1955, men weren’t glued to screens or living off ultra-processed meals full of seed oils. They were lean by default. Now, more than 40% of American men are classified as obese. And even among those who aren’t, a sedentary lifestyle and poor nutrition have shifted the average male body into something softer and less defined. Excess fat, inflammation, and even improper breathing and poor posture play a role – things that can subtly distort the facial structure and blur the symmetry we used to see. Pair that with declining testosterone, facial hair trends, and a noticeable drop in masculinity, and it’s not hard to see how we got here. Subscribe today to get unlimited access to all of Evie’s premium content.