WHAT'S so funny about a Chinese newspaper, being taken in by a hoax story, declaring North Korean leader Kim Jong Un the 'sexiest man alive'?

I don't quite get the joke.

Sure, they praised his handsome, round face, his famous smile and chic hairstyle.

But I'd be tempted to describe One Direction's Harry Styles in much the same way.

A young Mick Jagger? Give me a break.

Perhaps North Korean and Chinese newspaper editors laugh at us, printing photographs that highlight the aesthetics of Robbie Savage's blinding equine teeth, Peter Andre's mahogany skin, John Travolta's hypnotic hairline or Simon Cowell's wrinkle-proof forehead.

I want to write 'each to their own'... 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder', and all that.

But I can't. How can we laugh at American satirical website, The Onion, poking fun at the pint-sized dictator when our own notion of beauty is hardly without reproach.

Since Ella, the only 'real' contestant departed from The X Factor, I don't much care who stays and who goes – provided the show's army of stylists get the boot before Christmas.

Those preening professionals don't half earn their money, transforming Union J with manscara, guyliner and male GHDs.

The boyband make Michael Jackson, Donny Osmond and Mark Owen look positively rugged.

It does make me wonder if the idea of what's supposed to make women swoon has become skewed.

Would the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, Gregory Peck or Clint Eastwood still be considered heart-throb material by the Teenies?

Is a 'real' man like Javier Bardem consigned to be a character actor or villain rather than the object of female desire?

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for men taking an interest in their appearance. There's nothing wrong with a bit of moisturiser or a dab of hair product.

But is it an androgynous, hyper-feminine look that best sells movies and records these days?

You can't escape this cosmetic enhancement, even on TV sports coverage, that last bastion of testosterone.

An afternoon of weekend coupon-watching normally involves me screeching at the telly over how much make-up and hair wax the Sky Sports News Soccer Saturday presenters have trowelled on.

So, good on all the men who embraced their hirsute side for Movember.

Maybe campaigning MP Jo Swinson should be on the look-out for unrealistic, unattainable images of men as well as women. Now there's equality for you.