>>17285615https://archive.org/details/B-001-000-828/page/n77/mode/2upMen, as a group, prefer magazines with women on the covers
Women, as a group, prefer magazines with women on the covers
If an advertiser wants to sell you something, beautiful women are the gold standard to do that
Large parts of modern anime culture are built upon the idea that beautiful girls are something that people seek out and want more of. Pretty much regardless of context.
The ancient European deities of beauty were female. I'd be willing to bet that trend extends broadly to other ancient cultures as well.
I don't know what you were thinking of as an alternative, but there is an argument to be made, which Shakespeare made very elegantly in his sonnet 130 "my mistresses eyes are nothing like the Sun". Where he rejects that the divine is highest beauty. And through the various descriptions and comparisons to the mistress, he argues that "love" is the highest beauty.
Which I won't really argue against. Certain denominations of Christians even equate "love" with the highest possible good ("God is love" christians). But it's almost feels like a cop-out, like the trivial case.
Besides this. I think there's a good argument in favor of the female forme as the epitome of natural beauty.