I don't think she looks inhuman. In fact, all she's done is increase the very human factors that heterosexual males are naturally attuned to for various evolutionary reasons.
Like Fade says, there are certain characteristics that your brain automatically recognizes as "feminine" and "attractive" and responds accordingly. Some are cultural/"learned" and others are inherent. A guy with long hair and nail polish wearing lipstick would certainly look out of place, but it would only be because (current) society does not view these things as "masculine" (
Human society, that is. In other species, it is more often the male who gets the colorful plumage and puts on the mating display). Pronounced breasts, wider hips, a more rounded forehead, slighter frame, higher voice, "hairless" face...these are the biologically dictated feminine characteristics. I expect Amy can serve as "expert witness" on these.
Many studies have been done about "feminine" v. "masculine" faces. I've mentioned my fascination with attraction/fetish/obsession before (it's a hobby). I've read summaries of no small amount of studies (in mainstream media, no access to journals). Here is
a good one from Discover magazine (which unfortunately has lost its pictures, but they can be found over at
this PBS page) which suggests that, when femininity is exaggerated beyond the norm, attractiveness still continues to rise. Sure, there is a threshold beyond which some people start to get creeped out (no doubt analogous to the Uncanny Valley), and as the knob keeps getting turned higher and higher, more will drop off, but there will still be those who Just Can't Get Enough
or who have become so desensitized that, like any addict, they require stronger doses to get the same effect.
Consider the following picture (spoilered for people who work with prudes):
Now I'm almost positive the first thought in everyone's mind will be "obviously fake." Yes, it's theoretically possibly someone could genetically look like this, but the odds are even slimmer than she is. The eyes/eyebrows are enhanced with makeup, the hair is probably dyed/extensions, she has acrylic tips, probably some dental work, some tummy work (or else she's really sucking it in for the photo), and then there's the whole issue about the authenticity of her tan and bo0bs* (those are not "breasts," they are "b0obs*."
Some people will be turned right off by her unnatural appearance. These are probably going to be the people who have "normal" expectations and haven't had their boundaries stretched (by p0rn*, by the media, by ads, etc). For others, I'm betting I could fire up Photoshop, slim down her legs, inflate her chest, make her eyes and lips a little bigger, lengthen her neck a bit, and not lose a substantial number more from my act of caricature. In fact, some would probably take the resulting image and alter it even
more for their own private enjoyment, even though
I might consider it downright frightening.
In summary, pretty much everyone likes chocolate. There are also people who like chocolate-covered brownies, people who like chocolate-covered brownies with chocolate chips and chocolate ice cream, and then there are people who will take a chocolate chip-covered flourless chocolate cake, fill it with molten fudge, serve it with shaved bitter chocolate and sitting in a bowl of mousse, and
still ask you to dust it with cocoa until it looks like a Columbian Sahara**.
--Patrick
*Trying not to break the thread for certain of our members.
**This needs to be made into a new, trendy dessert with that name.