Monday, February 05, 2007

      Most people agree that beauty is subjective. You’ll hear them say things like beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Some people will tell you that the media has warped our society’s idea of beauty. They claim that we have been brainwashed to accept certain traits and features as a beautiful. The truth is that beauty, as defined as physical attractiveness, is quite objective. While the media has gone out of its way to glamorize beauty it has done little to alter that which is considered beautiful. What it has done is fool people into thinking that they can obtain the high levels of physical attractiveness featured in magazines and on television, resulting in crash diets, eating disorders and trips to the plastic surgeon.
      The reality is that we find symmetry more physically appealing than disproportion. This is true in all of nature as it is with the human face and body. To say that physical beauty is in the eye of the beholder is to deny this natural attraction to symmetry that all humans posses. To say that you, as an individual, find beauty in something that is not physically appealing (i.e. an ugly spouse or Lance Bass) then yes, beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder.
      Rarely does nature do things by accident. It is no coincidence that being overweight is damaging not only to your physical health, but to your outward appearance as well, just as being gaunt is both unhealthy and unbecoming.

Below is a rudimentary comparison of some examples of physical beauty compared to that which is more common among us.

Maya Rudolf is an attractive woman.

She is however, less attractive than Halle Berry.

A)I wouldn't say David Spade is ugly, but he isn't famous for his looks.

B) Lance Bass is an example of someone who is not attractive but was marketed as such.

C)Brad Pitt is a good looking guy.






Below is the desk mask of Queen Elizabeth I. To its right is the death mask of her much more attractive adversary, Mary Queen of Scots.

Queen Elizabeth I                   Mary Queen of Scots


A painting of Elizabeth.              A rendering of Mary.


Mary Queen of Scots would be considered more physically attractive than Elizabeth today, just as she was 500 years ago.

1 comments:

Carlothos said...

http://www.faceresearch.org/

you can make pretty hot girls on it.

its neat

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