Everyone has an idea of what is beautiful and frankly, you either are or you're not. If you are one of the fortunate ones that eyes follow down the street, by no feat of your own, you will most probably act differently than if, say, you had been forty kilo's heavier and had a mole the size of the Titanic on your nose. But do we really know why we believe some are God's and Goddesses and others mere mortals? What is beauty and who defines it? There is overwhelming scientific evidence suggesting that beauty is biologically and innately defined. All biological arguments supporting beauty, both male and female beauty, are founded on characteristics that ensure survival. "The characteristics that render attractiveness and beauty may be signs of fertility, health and resistance to disease" (Helen Fisher, Rutgers University anthropologist), for example, females universally prefer a strong, heavy lower face in men. Think of Prince Charming and his chiseled jaw, or any of the men chosen as the female prize on The Bachelor. This trait is a visible record of the surge in androgens (testosterone and other male sex hormones) that occurs in males through puberty. "The androgens required to produce this oversized jaw, tend to also compromise the immune system. Evolutionists think of androgen-based features as "honest advertisements" of disease resistance," (Helen Fisher, Rutgers University anthropologist) and thus this physical quality is valued by females. By the same rule, males find women with a "waist-hip ratio of 0.6-0.8 most attractive", that is their waists are 60-80% the size of their hips. Almost anything that interferes with fertility e.g. obesity, malnutrition, pregnancy and menopause, changes a woman's shape. That is why this particular shape is seen as ideal as an indicator of fertility, as it is the best shape for childbirth. Whilst, the female shape changes from era to epoch, and this transformation is generally related to social change. For example, traditionally fuller and paler women were seen as attractive as their physique illustrated that they were economically well-endowed enough to be well-fed and not have to labour in the sun. Whereas, contemporary society values a leaner and more tanned woman, as this shows that the female is also economically well-endowed enough to look after her figure and eat the "right" foods as well as take leisure time. Here we can see that the idea of beauty is related primarily to the social construct of economics. However, even though the physiques of beauty have dramatically changed from Botticelli's Venus to Kate Moss, it is interesting to note that "a low waist-hip ratio is one of the few features that a long, lean Barbie doll shares with a plump, primitive fertility icon. Even Twiggy was no tube; at the peak of her fame in the 1960s, the British model had a WHR of .73." (Cowley, G, The Biology of Beauty (Cover Story) Newsweek, June 3, 1996 v127 n23 p60) This suggests that body weight is a fashion, and not entirely linked with ideas of beauty. All this body talk, but aren't guy's suckers for a pretty face? Most people would agree that Nichole Kidman has a pretty face. Her face is pretty because it is average. However, People magazine has named Angelina Jolie its 2006 World's Most Beautiful Person. People classified as beautiful, as opposed to pretty, tend to have more exaggerated features e.g. Jolie's lips. "An ideal female has a higher forehead than an average one, as well as fuller lips, a shorter jaw and a smaller chin and nose. Indeed, the ideal 25-year-old woman, as configured by participants in a 1993 study, had a 14-year-old's abundant lips and an 11-year-old's delicate jaw. Because her lower face was so small, she also had relatively prominent eyes and cheekbones"(Cowley, G, The Biology of Beauty (Cover Story) Newsweek, June 3, 1996 v127 n23 p60). One key to physical attractiveness is symmetry; humans, like other species, show a strong preference for individuals whose right and left sides are well matched. One could argue that these features, as suggested, are linked to a youthful ideal once again related to fertility. Qualities held at the age of puberty, for example, the lips of a fourteen year old signify sexual maturity and thus are desirable to a male mate. So after you've asked yourself whether you're beautiful, ask yourself whether you really care about the size of someone waist is 70% the size of their hips? Are we merely animals programmed solely to reproduce?
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