The beauty conundrum….

13th June 2024

‘I’m tired of all this nonsense about beauty being only skin deep. That’s deep enough. What do you want – an adorable pancreas?’ Jean Kerr

I spend an inordinate time attempting to coax out my inner siren: being styled by my hairdresser, air-brushing on make-up, luxuriating in a facial, de-fuzzing haphazardly, snoring through a massage, therapy by retail…you name it. On occasion I’ll pause, ponder the bizarreness of my activities and pronounce myself ridiculous. But then promptly ignore and carry on. I still cannot give credence to my ordinary state. Even in a world where society claims (and I use claim for a reason) to be accepting of people of all shapes, sizes, styles, features, the undeclared truth is most of us (male or female) yearn to stand out. Desire to look as alluring as we can; beautiful if possible.

‘Everything has beauty but not everyone sees it.’ Confucius 

Beauty is an aspect we notice of the world around us – nature, art, buildings….But I’m intrigued in irresistibility and the person. We have a wordless understanding that my idea of loveliness is not the same as yours. Further transmuted by culture, time and fashion our insights are moulded uniquely. Whether an individual is deemed beautiful is not universal – though certain characteristics are more highly prized in particular cultures e.g fairer skins, long necks etc. Outside of that beauty is subjective and truly in the eye of the beholder. 

The Oxford dictionary defines beauty as ‘a combination of qualities such as shape, colour, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight’. It is determined by the structure and symmetry of the face, bone placement, colourings. It might sound baffling, but I find a man’s face handsome when one eye is slightly skew-whiff…ok granted that is a strange predilection but it’s not so left field as saying out loud you find sporty thighs is what lifts a person up a notch…..you know who you are…

Although we discussed the Golden ratio in this post (curiosityandtherascal.co.uk/2022/04/13/divine-proportions/), advocates state the ratio is present between the mouth, nose, eyes and chin of a ravishing face and similar ratios exist in a beguiling figure. The Marquardt Beauty mask is based on this theory. Through the use of mathematics it presents ‘masks’ which reveal facial features (size, ratios) to form the ideal face for men and women. The website suggests it can determine beauty across race and time. As mentioned in the post on the Golden ratio, to my mind, there are too many exceptions for this to be the determinant of being pleasing on the eye, but this does not cease the ongoing discourse.

Some would advance it is our inner persona which reveals our beauty. Perhaps to those of you less shallow minded, but for me gorgeousness really is skin deep…Facetiously we even have a unit of measurement for beauty termed The Helen, named after the most bewitching woman ever to have existed – Helen of Troy. For the less pleasing it has been proposed, the appropriate unit is the milliHelen! 

In some respects i’m sure this feels entertaining but a ‘so what’. You might be of the view beauty is a superficial topic and meaningless when confronted with education and wealth. But it is not strictly correct. Being beautiful or ugly (if I may use that term) has a far flung impact on perception and in times past was even seen as a personal value. Ancient philosophers equated beauty with morality – goodness and truth. Closer to home consider the fairy tales you have read – Sleeping beauty, Snow white, Cinderella….The good are dashing whereas the ugly are always villainous. 

Today, it would be safe to say we do not per-se equate beauty with morality but our acumen is still susceptible. The more attractive are mostly able to have their pick of a mate (the assumption being beauty signals the ability to deliver healthy off spring); thought to be of greater intelligence and seen as more trustworthy. It has been found, the more decorative amongst us are employed at a higher relative salary and juries are less likely to convict the good lookers. I have even read that a man’s reasoning is disrupted when observing a beautiful woman (women in a converse situation are not affected!)

What I’ve learnt through this meander is beauty is a significant part of society and occupies much of our mind and our activities. It may feel a nonsense but we shouldn’t dismiss this. Because whether we like it or not, we are behaviourally driven and beauty surreptitiously cajoles our feelings, prejudicing our actions and thereby influences the societal dynamics revolving the world that exists around us.  

Anyway, on that note I must dash. My plastic surgeon is waiting….