What is beauty?

[Belial]

Inspired by the "do you think you're ugly" thread.

A lot of people think they're ugly, at least in comparison to more beautiful people, but what exactly is beautiful? I commented in the ugly thread that I think I'm irredeemably ugly, then lately I got to thinking, why am I ugly? By what standard? And why did I use the word "irredeemably" to describe it?

All I know is that when I look in the magazines, watch the TV, or browse community or people based web pages all I see are a bunch of model guys with model girls. Always smiling, always happy. Then when I go outside on the rare occasions I decide to mingle with people, I always notice the "popular" people are almost always thin and very attractive. The happiest people are in couples and they are usually prettier than me.

But how am I able to judge "prettier than me" so easily? How can anyone? Beauty has been proven to be a subjective thing. What's beautiful to you can be butt ugly to someone else. So how are we, as a society, able to define beautiful so easily and so clearly?

 

[Satori]

Beauty, like everything else in the minds of humans, is an interpretation and nothing more.

Satori

 

[The_Wanderer]

i need only one word to answer.
For me beauty is:
OPETH

 

[SentencedToBurn]

yes i agree with satori. if your attracted to someone very much, that probably means you think they are beautiful.

 

[Sadistik]

Beauty is a socially constructed ideal, as it changes through time. For example, In the 1800's, full figured women were in and moles were considered EXTREMELY sexy...

 

[Belial]

Originally posted by The_Wanderer
OPETH

Right on!

Damn, I haven't used that particular smiley in ages!

 

[loudsilence]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[tenebrose]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

My boyfriend doesn't correspond with my usual idea of physically beautiful. Don't get me wrong, I don't think there is a creature more close to perfection in this world, and he is absolutely beautiful to me, but he is not someone I would've stopped to stare at in the street... and there I sit, stroking his face, tracing his jawbone and his eyebrows, and the thoughtful knot between them... and he's absolutely beautiful to me. Every part of him. But that is something that has come with time, as I started to get to know him.

The same way there are a lot of physically appealing people who have grown quite physically ugly in my eyes, after behaving poorly. As I always say, humans tend to see what they expect to see.

Want picture-proof of physical beauty, though...
http://www.dietofworms.com/pictures/tour_pics1/pic.cgi?dmo002.jpg
http://www.dietofworms.com/pictures/warehouse/warehouseset004/pic.cgi?dmo001.jpg
and of course...
http://nbcforlife.tripod.com/bluewall.jpg (in case you were wondering, you're looking at the guy in the middle.)


Edit: poo. while I was out looking for pictures someone else used my phrase.

 

[Melancholia]

yup,Satori has once more been proven to be wise

beauty is sth very subjective.. what one considers the epitomy of beauty can someone else perceive as sheer ugliness....
and as for my personal concception of beauty it varies actually..i can't say i like a specific type of person,some special outward appearance...it depends on the situation i guess....

 

[Klaha]

I think it can have two different meanings...

I think there is the instinctive definition of beauty...like when animals are seeking a mate, they want to choose the most healthy looking, therefore "beautiful", partner to mate with, so their genes are passed on. In this case it is purely a physical thing.

It's well known that a common indicator of beauty in humans these days is symmetry in the face. But now scientists are saying that it can be determined by the angles of the jawline, mouth, eyes etc...i think the angles that are found in that funny triangle...um, pi/2, pi/3, pi/6 or something.

But like some of you have said, you can find some people extremely beautiful whom you never really would have looked twice at walking down the street.

Feh.

 

[Demonspell]

Pain Of Salvation's "Perfect Element" album. Except for Used.

 

[MetalManCPA]

Most people equate beauty with looks first. That taints the real beauty of the person.

No matter what part of a person you are discussing - brains, beauty, intelligence : they are all part of the whole. Like Satori said - we take all of these and form an opinion of a person - our opinion. I like a person that others hate. I interpret that person differently.

Beauty is an overused judgement of a person in this world - why are so many teenage girls so caught up in weight and looks? Because society feeds us this visual beauty crap that some teens can't see through - and it effects their lives negatively.

 

[SentencedToBurn]

Originally posted by metalmancpa
why are so many teenage girls so caught up in weight and looks? Because society feeds us this visual beauty crap that some teens can't see through - and it effects their lives negatively.

yes wise words. We shouldnt try to all get fat now though.

 

[Lina]

I've always thought curvy girls are soooo much sexier than skinny, flat girls.

In terms of guys, while I can acknowledge that someone is good-looking by society's standards, they often aren't attractive to me. I (perhaps unfairly, although I have yet to be shown otherwise) equate good looks with assholes -- dumb assholes, at that. So I'm often attracted to the guys with a few quirks. A great personality can make an ugly person look gorgeous to me. Sounds cliched, I know, but it's true.

I'm so glad I'm past the age of being nervous around "hot guys." I'm so unimpressed with them now. In fact, I'm often repulsed. Give me stimulating conversation and I'll get horny. Oh boy, Luke's gonna have a field day with that one.

 

[luke]

Originally posted by Lina
I've always thought curvy girls are soooo much sexier than skinny, flat girls.

Give me Luke and I'll get horny. Oh boy, gonna have a field day with that one.

Does Dune know about this?

 

[YaYo]

geri halliwell
now she is wayyyyy to thin
yet the media is gobbling her up and she's giving diet advice in every magazine
pretty sick if you ask me


flesh = good. thats why us men like breasts. i may be turned off by fatness for health reasons, but societies idea of 'fat' is still well within the realm of healthy so i dont follow that kind of shit, so many girls think they're fat when they are just normal. Its crazy.

 

[lumen]

Beauty is...

something that resonates to the tune of your soul.

(Pardon my cheesiness, but I'm in an unusually sentimental mood.)