Unibrow

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Template:Short description

File:Unibrow Close Up.jpg
Close up of a unibrow

A unibrow (or jacco brow or monobrow; called synophrys in medicine) is a single eyebrow created when the two eyebrows meet in the middle above the bridge of the nose.[1] The hair above the bridge of the nose is of the same color and thickness as the eyebrows, such that they converge to form one uninterrupted line of hair.

History

The word monobrow first appeared in print in 1968,[2] and the adjectival form monobrowed followed in 1973, in Martin Amis' novel The Rachel Papers.[3] The first known use of the word unibrow was in 1981.[4]

Culture and beauty

File:Sharipov.jpg
Kyrgyz Cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov

Some nations prize the unibrow. It is a sign of beauty among Baluchi Omanis, whose women sometimes draw a black line joining the brows as a part of their routine makeup to fake a unibrow. A study found the prevalence of synophrys to be at 11.87% in the Omani population.[5] In Tajikistan, where the unibrow is similarly viewed as attractive, some women dry and extract an herb known locally as usma and daub it onto their brows to mimic one.[6] Urban women may do the same with a kohl liner or a kajal pen.[7]

File:The 6th Duke of Westminster Allan Warren.jpg
Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster
File:Brian MacDonell (cropped).jpg
New Zealand politician Brian MacDonell

The unibrow has largely been seen as undesirable in the Americas and Europe, with the hairs often plucked, shaved, or waxed away.[8][9] Exceptions include the artist Frida Kahlo, famous for her unibrow, which she often depicted in self-portraits,[10][11] and the Greek-Cypriot model Sophia Hadjipanteli.[12]

The unibrow is also the trademark of the NBA player Anthony Davis,[13] the football player Marouane Fellaini, and the YouTuber ElectroBOOM. The boxer Roberto Elizondo famously sported a unibrow during his professional career.[14]

Medicine

Genetics

The unibrow is a genetic trait.[15] It is associated with the PAX3 gene.[16]

Medical conditions

A unibrow is part of normal human variation, but can also stem from developmental disorders. A unibrow is a recognized feature of Cornelia De Lange syndrome, a genetic disorder whose main features include moderate to severe learning difficulties, limb abnormalities such as oligodactyly (fewer than normal fingers or toes), and phocomelia (malformed limbs), and facial abnormalities including a long philtrum (the slight depression/line between the nose and mouth).

Other medical conditions associated with a unibrow include:[17]

File:De Lange Syndrome 3.jpg
Unibrow in Cornelia de Lange syndrome
File:Amentia Plate XX (2).jpg
Hydrocephalic man with a unibrow
File:Mucopolysaccharidosis (Sanfilippo Syndrome) 1.jpg
Unibrow in MPS-III

See also

References

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External links

Template:Accessory organs of the eye Template:Human hair Template:Authority control

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