Is beauty in the eye of the beholder?

Three Seasons · 22-03-2013 11:23AM #1

How true do you think it is that Beauty is in the eye if the beholder.

I think men for the most part find certain features universally attractive, smooth skin, long shiny silky hair, and so on. I think the subjective part is relatively small.

For women I think they find certain traits universally attractive, however I think they vary more than men in the hat they find attractive.

Madam_X · 22-03-2013 11:34AM

Beauty may not be that subjective (although some of that, not all but some, is culturally constructed - e.g. look at women from bygone ages who were considered beauties; different to today) but attractiveness/sexiness very much are. I don't consider Sean Penn beautiful, but Jesus Christ I find him so attractive. George Clooney is quite beautiful and does nada for me.

fishy fishy · 22-03-2013 11:42AM

most people on this earth can be described as probably fairly average, BUT everybody has some beautiful features. However, real beauty comes from the inside. There is no one definition of beauty. If there was, it would be a boring old world.

fishy fishy · 22-03-2013 11:43AM

i would suggest that not all men like long hair either. Some men like women bald. :cool:

Kettleson · 22-03-2013 11:48AM

People of any gender can "look" physically attractive to someone for what ever reasons.

For me, as soon as you really get to know someone's personality, that's the real attraction. People who have an attractive appearance can quickly become very, very unattractive.

Shenshen · 22-03-2013 11:49AM

I do suspect that beauty is very much in the eye of the beholder, and that applies not only to beauty seen in other people, but beauty in general.

The "beholding" seems to happen in a sort of bell curve, though, with a large number having similar tastes and making up the bulky middle bit, while others make up the smaller numbers of people finding more or other things beautiful.

Personally, I don't see much beauty in what apparently most people would consider beautiful (I'd struggle to name any celebrity I find beautiful), but I tend to find beauty in character that shows on the surface.
I'm likely to find an imperfect face much more beautiful than a perfect one. And I definitely find a heavier body more beautiful than a "normal" one.

The same is true for me with beauty in other areas. Where the majority agrees that a picture of a white sand beach with palms somewhere in the Pacific is beautiful, it does nothing for me at all. But I could very well find a photo of a half-buried rusty can on a beach with grey skies and tall waves in the background very beautiful indeed.

Cee-Jay-Cee · 22-03-2013 11:50AM

Beauty is only skin deep but ugliness goes right to the bone.

anncoates · 22-03-2013 11:52AM

Three Seasons wrote: »

I think the subjective part is relatively small.

Sorry to hear that dude. Keep telling yourself "It's how you use it though".

Chuck Stone · 22-03-2013 11:57AM

Why was the model staring at the orange juice?

Because it said 'concentrate' on the carton.

Three Seasons · 22-03-2013 12:00PM

Kettleson wrote: »

People of any gender can "look" physically attractive to someone for what ever reasons.

For me, as soon as you really get to know someone's personality, that's the real attraction. People who have an attractive appearance can quickly become very, very unattractive.

Just to emphasise, I'm referring to physical beauty. However if personality influences your perception of physical beauty then it becomes relevant here.

marnie d · 22-03-2013 12:05PM

Some of the lads I've seen my friends mad after have been butt ugly, but they'd have the same opinion of some of the men I've been with. Definately in the eye of the beholder.

fishy fishy · 22-03-2013 12:05PM

there are no rules to physical beauty - just because long silky hair is the "trend" now, and people are brainwashed that this is "a beauty feature" it doesn't make it so. A couple of years ago nobody would have been seen dead with long silky hair - it was all afro's and perms.

Again, everybody has SOME beautiful features - it depends on how people look at people. I wouldn't however, listen to the media bull telling people what beauty is supposed to be. People have their own minds ( I hope ) as to what they find physically beautiful.

NothingMan · 22-03-2013 12:06PM

Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder...

Kettleson · 22-03-2013 12:07PM

Three Seasons wrote: »

Just to emphasise, I'm referring to physical beauty. However if personality influences your perception of physical beauty then it becomes relevant here.

I would have thought it totally relevant, essential even.

If you are talking about images or picture in magazines, then sure you can make a call on how attractive that persons image is, but we all know thats mostly about photo shopping and make up.

But if you are talking about knowing someone for real, well for me, it's down to personality. A horrible personality can render the most gorgeous "appearing" person totally ugly.

krudler · 22-03-2013 12:11PM

Madam_X wrote: »

Beauty may not be that subjective (although some of that, not all but some, is culturally constructed - e.g. look at women from bygone ages who were considered beauties; different to today) but attractiveness/sexiness very much are. I don't consider Sean Penn beautiful, but Jesus Christ I find him so attractive. George Clooney is quite beautiful and does nada for me.

Personality is key to attractiveness a lot of the time as well, you can be the best looking person in the world but if you've nothing to say and are as dull as ditchwater then what's the point. There's plenty of models or actresses etc that are considered beautiful that would do nothing for me either, you can see why people would find them hot but other than that, meh.

fishy fishy · 22-03-2013 12:12PM

Madam_X wrote: »

I doubt there has ever been a time when women "wouldn't have been seen dead" with straight long shiny hair. That's a hell of a stretch. As a person with long straight shiny hair I have never in my life known this to be a "no-no". There wasn't a time when it was "all" afros and perms.

Im talking about the "trends" of the decades - maybe you are not around long enough to remember. You're missing the whole point.

the original OP question is a bit shallow to be honest (no offense).

Three Seasons · 22-03-2013 12:12PM

fishy fishy wrote: »

there are no rules to physical beauty - just because long silky hair is the "trend" now, and people are brainwashed that this is "a beauty feature" it doesn't make it so. A couple of years ago nobody would have been seen dead with long silky hair - it was all afro's and perms.

Again, everybody has SOME beautiful features - it depends on how people look at people. I wouldn't however, listen to the media bull telling people what beauty is supposed to be. People have their own minds ( I hope ) as to what they find physically beautiful.

Healthy hair will always be beautiful, whereas thinning damaged hair will never be.

Zulu · 22-03-2013 12:13PM

Taking the golden ratio aside, I'd say that while beauty is in the eye of the beholder, many eyes turn to certain beauties.

...however, as some people have pointed out "beauty" and "attractiveness" are different beasts.

fishy fishy · 22-03-2013 12:14PM

Three Seasons wrote: »

Healthy hair will always be beautiful, whereas thinning damaged hair will never be.

again, that would depend on the person - I have met people with thinning, damaged hair that were far more beautiful than people with an head full of shiny hair and nothing going on under it.

Are you trying to say that Hair maketh the beauty? You need to use your head rethink that. (no pun intended).

But then again, if you can't see past the hair, then there's no point even wasting energy having this debate.

Kettleson · 22-03-2013 12:15PM

Three Seasons wrote: »

Healthy hair will always be beautiful, whereas thinning damaged hair will never be.

Words fail me. Here endeth my contribution to this thread.

Lando Griffin · 22-03-2013 12:16PM

krudler wrote: »

Personality is key to attractiveness a lot of the time as well, you can be the best looking person in the world but if you've nothing to say and are as dull as ditchwater then what's the point. There's plenty of models or actresses etc that are considered beautiful that would do nothing for me either, you can see why people would find them hot but other than that, meh.

I agree mostly with this.
A few years back I would think that page 3 girls were beautiful but unattractive because of the universal view that they were quiet dim.
But now you can get a good insight as how intelligent they are by reading their "News in briefs" caption and it surprised me as to see how clever these ladies were.

Three Seasons · 22-03-2013 12:17PM

fishy fishy wrote: »

there are no rules to physical beauty - just because long silky hair is the "trend" now, and people are brainwashed that this is "a beauty feature" it doesn't make it so. A couple of years ago nobody would have been seen dead with long silky hair - it was all afro's and perms.

Again, everybody has SOME beautiful features - it depends on how people look at people. I wouldn't however, listen to the media bull telling people what beauty is supposed to be. People have their own minds ( I hope ) as to what they find physically beautiful.

I've yet to find anyone who finds acne scarred skin beautiful, you are over emphasising the subjective part IMO.

I also think people place to much emphasis on culture as to what is deemed physically attractive.

Shenshen · 22-03-2013 12:20PM

Madam_X wrote: »

I agree by and large with your second point, but I really doubt there has ever been a time when women "wouldn't have been seen dead" with straight long shiny hair. That's a hell of a stretch. As a person with long straight shiny hair I have never in my life known this to be a "no-no". And there wasn't a time a couple of years ago when it was "all" afros and perms.

I wouldn't know if it ever applied to all women globally, but the 70s and 80s were a time when straight hair would get you funny looks.
My mother actually talked me into having a perm when I was 13 years old, in the middle of the 80s. And to my eternal shame, I agreed. Mostly because I was the only female I knew with straight hair...

Three Seasons · 22-03-2013 12:23PM

fishy fishy wrote: »

Im talking about the "trends" of the decades - maybe you are not around long enough to remember. You're missing the whole point.

the original OP question is a bit shallow to be honest (no offense).

Define a "shallow question". I would have thought my question has some depth to it. It's not a simple yes or no question.

To be more precise, the question is, "is physical beauty in the eye of the beholder?"

I think it's obvious to most attraction is based on more than physical beauty, I don't see much merit to saying attraction is about more than looks as everyone seems to know that already.

A less obvious question to me is the relative dominance of subjective versus objective perception of physical beauty.

If you see a photo of someone you don't know, how much is physical beauty in the eye of the beholder?

Shenshen · 22-03-2013 12:23PM

Three Seasons wrote: »

I've yet to find anyone who finds acne scarred skin beautiful, you are over emphasising the subjective part IMO.

I also think people place to much emphasis on culture as to what is deemed physically attractive.

I know that you can get yourself scarred, pretty much in the way some people get tattooed. The only reason I can think of for this offer to exist has to be that some people find it beautiful.

Zulu · 22-03-2013 12:29PM

whoopsadaisydoodles wrote: »

If a man is physically gorgeous I will notice him, if I meet him and find him dull or negative or nasty, I'll no longer see what's on the outside and he will no longer be gorgeous.

I'm decidely average, nothing beautiful about my physical appearance. But I know there are people who think I'm beautiful, they think that because of my attitude and my personality. There are many others who would find me anything but beautiful, that's life. So yeh, I definitely think beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I'm not having a go here, but aren't you confusing "beauty" with "attractiveness"?

In your first example you have a beautiful looking person who's not attractive,
and in your second example, perhaps, (on thin ice here) a slightly less beautiful person who's more attractive?

Three Seasons · 22-03-2013 12:36PM

Shenshen wrote: »

I know that you can get yourself scarred, pretty much in the way some people get tattooed. The only reason I can think of for this offer to exist has to be that some people find it beautiful.

I wasn't aware of these people. I'll shift my view a bit more towards subjective now. Of course These people would be a rarity.

Shenshen · 22-03-2013 12:41PM

Three Seasons wrote: »

I wasn't aware of these people. I'll shift my view a bit more towards subjective now. Of course These people would be a rarity.

They would be in our society, indeed.
I do believe there are tribal societies which traditionally use scars as adornments, so in those societies it would be the norm, I guess.

H3llR4iser · 22-03-2013 01:50PM

There is certainly quite a degree of subjectivity, especially when it comes to men. I find it odd how some people think men are more attracted to "standard beauty features" and women have more varied tastes; I find it's quite the opposite. For example, a lot of men like "thick" chicks (even if they won't admit), heck there's even an entire branch of pron dedicated to the theme; It doesn't look like many women like overweight men, however.

frank reynolds · 22-03-2013 02:07PM

there's nothing less attractive than someone who isnt modest about what they've got. if they carry on as if they are gods gift, then they very quickly turn into a total minger.

in short: YES, it's in the eye of the beholder. definitely

Three Seasons · 22-03-2013 02:26PM

Shenshen wrote: »

They would be in our society, indeed.
I do believe there are tribal societies which traditionally use scars as adornments, so in those societies it would be the norm, I guess.

What about acne scars though, is there any society which specifically finds acne scars more beautiful.

Do you think a marketing campaign could make acne scars or obesity beautiful? I don't.

Is beauty in the eye of the beholder?

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