Guide Questions

2. What is Beauty?
3. Why is beauty important in everyday
human affairs?/What is its purpose?
4. What is the history of beauty and its
conceptions over the years?
5. How does science define the
beautiful?
6. Can science prove/define beauty?
-the combination of qualities in the face that evoke in the
perceiver, a combination of strong positive emotion and a
high degree of attraction
- Beauty is power; a smile is its word (Charles Reade)
- Personal beauty is a greater recommendation than any
letter of reference (Aristotle)
- Beauty is worse than wine; it intoxicates both the holder
and the beholder (Immermann)
She Walks In Beauty
by George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824)
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.
 And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

http://www.fleurdelis.com/shewalksinbeauty.htm
• For ancient Egyptians, Romans, and Persians,
sparkling eyes were considered beautiful
• A woman with a high forehead was considered
beautiful during the Elizabethan era
• In the court of Louis XVI, noblewomen drew blue
veins onto their necks and shoulders to emphasize
their exalted status ("bluebloods")
• In the 16th and 17th centuries, the wealthy used
belladonna eyedrops to dilate their pupils
• Duringthe 18th century, vermilion rouge, concocted
of sulphur and mercury, achieved popularity
• Corseting, popular from the 14th to 19th centuries,
originally involved compressing the bosom and
constricting the waist
• Antiquity: rotund Venus of Willendorf
• 1920s: the statuesque, leggy flappers
• 1960s: the ultra-thin "Twiggy"-inspired look
• 1990s: "heroin chic"
• In ancient China, the 4-inch "lotus feet" was
considered a sign of perfect beauty
• In some cultures (Hawaiian royalty), women voluntarily
consumed or were force-fed excessive quantities of
food
• Today, large bust size and round, but not excessively
large, posteriors are emphasized
• At other times, women (with and without anorexia and
bulimia), have dieted, induced vomiting, abused
laxatives, and exercised excessively to lose weight
MONA LISA
MADAME RECAMIER
CLEOPATRA
HELEN OF TROY
ELIZABETH TAYLOR
• To attract a mate - procreation
• To feel good and let others feel good about
themselves – happiness
• The beautiful is always associated with the good
• Buddhism teaches that your physical appearance is
a reflection of your inner self
• Just like the beauty of nature, one appreciates the
power of the divine in a beautiful face – a gift from
God
• Beauty is meant to be shared, appreciated and
enjoyed
“Beauty is not found in one woman but in every woman”
- Rodin
“There is nothing so lovely as to be beautiful. Beauty is a gift of God and we
should cherish it as such”
- Madame de Sévigné
“If eyes were made for seeing, then Beauty is its own excuse for being”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty - that is all, Ye know on earth, and all ye need to
know”
- John Keats
nature of BEAUTY
BEAUTY of
nurture
lashi
kate
female = REPRODUCTION

reproduction = HEALTH
an evolutionary perspective | BEAUTY
 health = EVOLUTION OF
PREFERENCE
ag
e skin complexion

body shape

hair
REPRODUCTIVE
CAPACITY
an evolutionary perspective | BEAUTY
 SYMMETRY

an evolutionary perspective | BEAUTY

 Lily Foot? Fat Figure?
What reproductive purpose would this trait
serve?
culture or evolution? | BEAUTY
 = health
FATNE = high
status
=
SS prosperity
but
today...
THINNES
S?
1993: Waist-hip
Devendra Singh)
ratio (Dr.
• ratio of the circumference of the waist to
that of the hips
• measures the proportion by which fat
is distributed
around the torso

fat or thin? | BEAUTY

 • a WHR of 0.7 for women and 0.9
for men have been shown to
correlate strongly with general
health and fertility
• women within the 0.7 range have
optimal levels of estrogen and are
less susceptible to major diseases
such as diabetes, cardiovascular
disorders and ovarian cancers

• men with WHRs around 0.9,

similarly, have been shown to be
more healthy and fertile with less
prostate cancer and testicular
cancer
Men have been found to
universally prefer the
average-sized female
figure, as opposed to one
that is particularly thin or
fat.
Waist-hip ratio .. So what? | BEAUTY
 MEDIA : trend
modern age! what happened?| BEAUTY
 beauty = health
body

Beauty
is the opposite
of Ugliness

Ugliness = unhealthy
body

define ugliness| BEAUTY

 Striving for beauty?

BULIMIA ANOREXIA
Ugliness = unhealthy body| BEAUTY
physical ...
birt
appearance h
beauty from NATURE| BEAUTY
 People tend to resort to SCIENCE to meet the standards
of BEAUTY...

beauty from NURTURE| BEAUTY

 BEAUTY = HEALTHY BODY

Is
artificial
beauty
beautiful
? BEAUTY
science of beauty|