Unless you refer to old(er) working class women with a hard life I don't see how any reasonable person can think that's even remotely a basis for a joke, given how much more beautiful Russian women look on average. Just walk around Russian cities. Having lived in the US for a decade and having been to Russia and Ukraine several times, sometimes for months living in a rented apartment, I know which country I'd choose if "women" were the decision-driving factor.
It always intrigues me how people manage to persuade themselves, or get the impression, that country X or city Y has more attractive women than anywhere else. I guess it's a 'Grass is always greener...' effect?
It's nontrivial to measure definitively, due not only to subjectivity but to various selection bias problems; but why do you think it could not be true?
People with a limited pool of ancestors are often very ugly. Especially noticeable in alpine valleys or remote island communities.
Same if inbreeding is practiced. So, the claim that for example, mid-easterners with their penchant for marrying cousins, or the Swiss with their insular village communities ..
Sounds like bias to me. We're genetically hard-wired to be attracted to those different to us.
For example, I don't think that (on average) the locals where I live are particularly beautiful in comparison to other countries, but a lot of foreigners seem to disagree with me.
I'll look for better (primary) sources when I'm not on my phone if I remember. I vaguely remember seeing a bunch of stuff about how humans naturally gravitate towards genetic diversity, unless there's some roadblock preventing it. I don't have a source offhand though so until or unless I find one, remember to add your salt :)
I understand where that comes from: it's a stereotypical generalisation, but Russian middle-aged men drink themselves to death. Large areas of Russian countryside operate on granny energy only.
So, the "supply" of women exceeds "demand" in Russia.
What puzzles me more is how UAE, Qatar and Kuwait have such a high male-to-female ratios. Is it because of large populations of foreign workers that are predominantly male?
Not quite. There is some culture of binge drinking and alcohol-related deaths, but drinking in Finland is more evenly distributed between men and women, and life expectancy of men is 15 years higher than Russia, on the average. (In women, the difference is just 6 years.)
