What are we measuring when we measure attractiveness?

Facial attractiveness ratings are widely used as indicators of mate value and sexual preference in evolutionary aesthetics. Yet recent large-scale evidence reveals a robust Gender Attractiveness Gap (GAP): female faces are rated as more attractive than male faces across cultures, sexual orientations, age groups, and methodological contexts. This structural asymmetry has remained largely invisible despite being embedded in facial-attractiveness datasets for decades. It challenges the assumption that explicit attractiveness ratings map straightforwardly onto sexual desire. Rather, the GAP suggests that attractiveness judgments are outputs of a broader evaluative system in which female appearance occupies a privileged position. This article discusses the conceptual and methodological implications of this finding for measurement, theory construction, and future research on human aesthetic cognition.