Beauty
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Beauty is a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure, meaning, or satisfaction.[citation needed] Beauty is studied as part of aesthetics, sociology, social psychology, and culture. An "ideal beauty" is an entity which is admired, or possesses features widely attributed to beauty in a particular culture, for perfection.[citation needed]
The experience of "beauty" often involves the interpretation of some entity as being in balance and harmony with nature, which may lead to feelings of attraction and emotional well-being.[citation needed] Because this is a subjective experience, it is often said that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder."[1] In its most profound sense, beauty may engender a salient experience of positive reflection about the meaning of one's own existence.[citation needed] A subject of beauty is anything that resonates with personal meaning.[citation needed]
The classical Greek adjective for "beautiful" was καλλός, kallos. The Koine Greek word for beautiful was ὡραῖος, hōraios,[2] an adjective etymologically coming from the word ὥρα, hōra, meaning "hour." In Koine Greek, beauty was thus associated with "being of one's hour."[3]
A ripe fruit (of its time) was considered beautiful, whereas a young woman trying to appear older or an older woman trying to appear younger would not be considered beautiful. In Attic Greek, hōraios had many meanings, including "youthful" and "ripe old age."[3]
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Historical view of beauty
There is evidence that a preference for beautiful faces emerges early in child development, and that the standards of attractiveness are similar across different genders and cultures.[4] Symmetry is also important because it suggests the absence of genetic or acquired defects[citation needed].
Although style and fashion vary widely, cross-cultural research has found a variety of commonalities in people's perception of beauty. The earliest Western theory of beauty can be found in the works of early Greek philosophers from the pre-Socratic period, such as Pythagoras. The Pythagorean school saw a strong connection between mathematics and beauty. In particular, they noted that objects proportioned according to the golden ratio seemed more attractive[citation needed]. Ancient Greek architecture is based on this view of symmetry and proportion.
Classical philosophy and sculptures of men and women produced according to these[which?] philosophers' tenets of ideal human beauty were rediscovered in Renaissance Europe, leading to a re-adoption of what became known as a "classical ideal". In terms of female human beauty, a woman whose appearance conforms to these tenets is still called a "classical beauty" or said to possess a "classical beauty", whilst the foundations laid by Greek and Roman artists have also supplied the standard for male beauty in western civilization[citation needed].
Human beauty
The characterization of a person as “beautiful”, whether on an individual basis or by community consensus, is often based on some combination of Inner Beauty, which includes psychological factors such as personality, intelligence, grace, politeness, charisma, integrity, congruence and elegance, and Outer Beauty, (i.e. physical attractiveness) which includes physical factors, such as health, youthfulness, facial symmetry, averageness, and complexion.
Standards of beauty are always evolving, based on what a culture considers valuable. Historical paintings show a wide range of different standards for beauty. However, humans who are relatively young, with smooth skin, well-proportioned bodies, and regular features, have traditionally been considered to be the most beautiful throughout history.
A strong indicator of physical beauty is "averageness," or "koinophilia." When images of human faces are averaged together to form a composite image, they become progressively closer to the "ideal" image and are perceived as more attractive. This was first noticed in 1883, when Francis Galton, cousin of Charles Darwin, overlaid photographic composite images of the faces of vegetarians and criminals to see if there was a typical facial appearance for each. When doing this, he noticed that the composite images were more attractive compared to any of the individual images.
Researchers have replicated the result under more controlled conditions and found that the computer generated, mathematical average of a series of faces is rated more favorably than individual faces.[5] Evolutionarily it makes logical sense that sexual creatures should be attracted to mates who possess predominantly common or average features.[6]
A feature of beautiful women that has been explored by researchers is a waist-to-hip ratio of approximately 0.70. Physiologists have shown that women with hourglass figures are more fertile than other women due to higher levels of certain female hormones, a fact that may subconsciously condition males choosing mates.[7]
People are influenced by the images they see in the media to determine what is or is not beautiful. Feminists and doctors have suggested that the ultra-skinny models featured in magazines promote eating disorders,[8] and others have argued that the predominance of white women featured in movies and advertising leads to a Eurocentric concept of beauty, feelings of inferiority in women of color,[9] and internalized racism.[10]
The black is beautiful cultural movement sought to dispel this notion.[11] Conversely, beauty ideals may also promote racial unity[citation needed]. Mixed race children are often perceived to be more attractive than their parents because their genetic diversity protects them from the inherited errors of their individual parents.[12]
The concept of beauty in men is known as 'bishōnen' in Japan. Bishōnen refers to males with distinctly feminine features, physical characteristics establishing the standard of beauty in Japan and typically exhibited in their pop culture idols.
Effects on society
Beauty presents a standard of comparison, and it can cause resentment and dissatisfaction when not achieved. People who do not fit the "beauty ideal" may be ostracized within their communities. The television sitcom Ugly Betty portrays the life of a girl faced with hardships due to society's unwelcoming attitudes toward those they deem unattractive. However, a person may also be targeted for harassment because of their beauty. In Malèna, a strikingly beautiful Italian woman is forced into poverty by the women of the community who refuse to give her work for fear that she may "woo" their husbands.
Researchers have found that good looking students get higher grades from their teachers than students with an ordinary appearance.[13] Furthermore, attractive patients receive more personalized care from their doctors.[citation needed] Studies have even shown that handsome criminals receive lighter sentences than less attractive convicts.[citation needed]
How much money a person earns may also be influenced by physical beauty. One study found that people low in physical attractiveness earn 5 to 10 percent less than ordinary looking people, who in turn earn 3 to 8 percent less than those who are considered good looking.[14] Discrimination against others based on their appearance is known as lookism.[citation needed]
St. Augustine said of beauty "Beauty is indeed a good gift of God; but that the good may not think it a great good, God dispenses it even to the wicked."[15]
Ugliness
Ugliness is a property of a person or thing that is unpleasant to look upon and results in a highly unfavorable evaluation. To be ugly is to be aesthetically unattractive, repulsive, or offensive.[16] Like its opposite, beauty, ugliness involves a subjective judgment and is at least partly in the "eye of the beholder." Thus, the perception of ugliness can be mistaken or short-sighted, as in the story of The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen.
Although ugliness is normally viewed as a visible characteristic, it can also be an internal attribute. For example, an individual could be outwardly attractive but inwardly thoughtless and cruel. It is also possible to be in an "ugly mood," which is a temporary, internal state of unpleasantness.
See also
- Aesthetics
- Beauty contest
- Erotic capital
- Fashion
- Glamour (presentation)
- Human physical appearance
- Mathematical beauty
- Nature (philosophy)
- Sexual attraction
References
- ^ Gary Martin (2007). "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". The Phrase Finder. http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/59100.html. Retrieved December 4, 2007.
- ^ Matthew 23:27, Acts 3:10, Flavius Josephus, 12.65
- ^ a b Euripides, Alcestis 515.
- ^ Rhodes, G. (2006). The evolutionary psychology of facial beauty. Annual Review of Psychology, 57, 199-226.
- ^ Langlois, J. H., Roggman, L. A., & Musselman, L. (1994). What is average and what is not average about attractive faces? Psychological Science, 5, 214-220.
- ^ KOESLAG, J.H. (1990). Koinophilia groups sexual creatures into species, promotes stasis, and stabilizes social behaviour. J. theor. Biol. 144, 15-35
- ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-300862/Born-mothers-curvy-hips.html
- ^ "Models link to teenage anorexia". BBC News. May 30, 2000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/769290.stm. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
- ^ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3626/is_200310/ai_n9248761/
- ^ Chris Weedon, Cardiff University. "Key Issues in Postcolonial Feminism: A Western Perspective". Gender Forum Electronic Journal. http://www.genderforum.uni-koeln.de/genderealisations/weedon.html. Retrieved December 4, 2007.
- ^ Dr. DoCarmo (2007). "Dr. DoCarmo's Notes on the Black Cultural Movement". Bucks County Community College. http://www.bucks.edu/~docarmos/BCMnotes.html. Retrieved December 4, 2007.
- ^ Leroi, A. (2003). Mutants: On Genetic Variety and the Human Body. Viking books
- ^ http://www.newsweek.com/id/206597
- ^ Lorenz, K. (2005). "Do pretty people earn more?" CNN News, Time Warner.
- ^ City of God Book 15 Chapter 22
- ^ Webster's New World College Dictionary, 3rd edition, 1995.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Beauty |
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Beauty |
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Look up beauty or pretty in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
- BBC Radio 4's In Our Time programme on Beauty (requires RealAudio)
- Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Theories of Beauty to the Mid-Nineteenth Century
- beautycheck.de/english Regensburg University - Characteristics of beautiful faces
