Am I beautiful

essay

Holly A. Frey

Mr. Matzka

College Comp.

7 June 2012

Am I Beautiful?

As beauty becomes more and more integrated into daily life, a question has risen to the for-front of many fashion and cosmology industries that are known to make millions on the idea of beauty, what is true beauty? Is it as ever-changing as the world around them, or is it one never altering picture that has just never been created or stumbled upon. With magazines like Vogue and Cosmo Girl constantly slathering their covers with the faces of beautifully alike actors and high fashion models, that all seem to share an odd attractive likeness, it’s hard not to believe that what society deems as beautiful could differ all that much from these so called gorgeous plastic and airbrushed models that live on the covers of magazines and nowhere else. Or is this just the closest that society can ever hope to come to that perfect person that nature just hasn’t been able to yet create. The ISAPS Global Nation survey concluded that 17,295,557 surgical and non-surgical procedures were done in 2009 alone, they included; Botox, laser hair removal, breast augmentation, liposuction, eyelid lift, tummy tuck, nose jobs and many more. With all the surgeries being done to mold one’s body into society’s idea of perfection, is the idea of beauty so closed off , so singular that it has but  one plastic face to which all respond to in a global cry that, that is true beauty?

Society as a whole is giving up its long standing traditions and connections to its past and culture to conform more to the rapidly slimming idea of what is thought to be beautiful and acceptable to say and to wear. One example is the  traditional Indian women’s clothes, which use to bring to mind a brightly colored cloth dress that wrapped elegantly around the body with interesting geometric patterns to catch the eye, yet that is now not the case. Independent.co.UK interviewed Mika Bhatia a college student of Indian descent who often goes back to India and has seen the rapid change first hand, “Fifteen years ago the American influence was absent and women would dress in their traditional clothes and look great. Now it’s all about the western clothes. It’s sad. It’s happening so fast. I notice it every time I go back.” As the aspect of Western beauty spreads and becomes more accepted throughout the world, the diffrent standards of beauty, tradition and health are only a few of the many things to go in this culture sweep away, as the world switches to become more like everyone else.

Americans have recently developed a stereotype of being overweight and a McDonalds loving people, yet the models of the American country are growing steadily thinner and becoming grossly underfed, opting for having jutting bones over food every day. ABC.news.com reports that the average weight of a model twenty years ago was only eight percent thinner than the average person. It seemed an appropriate difference between the normal woman and the models who strutted their stuff on catwalks selling clothes, and jewelry. Yet when the percent is compared to today’s weight difference from models to the normal woman, the past seems positively spectacular. The modern weight difference between the average woman and model is 23 percent. But America is not alone in this aspect of too thin models, it’s happening all over the world. Reuters.com reported on the story of Israel’s ban on too thin models from their fashion show. Taking body measurements and weighing the models to make sure they were above 18.5 in their body max index, which is the thinnest you can be while still being technically healthy. Many think this ban was in response to the death of two young beautiful models whose life was cut short by anorexia.

One Ana Carolina Reston a Brazilian model, who in 2006 weighting an appalling and astounding 88 pounds at 5 feet 6 inches and that same year died due to multiple organ failure, septicemia, and urinary infection. All complications due to the eating disorder anorexia, of which she suffered, and the drugs she had been taking to increase the weight loss. Her family had to watch the 26 days as she slowly died, a feeding tube shoved down her throat so that even as she passed away she could say nothing to her loved ones, though her family says, that the tears running down her cheeks said enough. Her death certificate stated the time in which she passed away, the multiple causes of her death and lastly it coldly added that Ana Carolina Weston left no children, left no property, and left no will. In August of 2006, only a few months after the death of Ana, Luisel Ramos, a Uruguayan model, died of heart failure during a fashion show. She had not eaten in many days, and her body could endure no more. Her sister Eliana Ramos died of the same condition a few months later in the winter of the same year, reported theage.com. But these deaths were not in vain, as they sparked an outrage that may just stop the pain and heart ach that goes with these eating disorders that run so rampant among models.

The fashion industry has taken a big step towards repairing the bridge between being healthy and making it as a model on the catwalk. Fashion shows such as in Israel, Paris and New York and in magazines such as Vogue are all taking up this new practice of banning too thin models. Fashionmodelquicktrack.com states that a plus size model can range from a size 6 �" 14, and that the perfect model’s measurements are 5’9” in height, 32” �" 36” bust, 22” �" 26” waist, and 33” �" 35” hips, with the bans on to skinny models those sizes might just get a little larger. The idea of perfect beauty in the eyes of those who suffer from anorexia is obviously something different from those who don’t. The suffers of anorexia see beauty as someone impossibly thin, so impossibly thin that they die in the effort to match that impossible image. It seems that with so many people unhappy with themselves, from the models to the everyday woman, whether it be their weight or their features, a surgical solution seems so perfect a choice for those who just want to wipe away what makes them, them to join the idea of what is beautiful.

In South Korea where women are known to have the angular eyes that are commonly associated with people of Asian descent are shelling out 800 dollars for a procedure to make their eyes less “Squinty”. The procedure is called “Deorientalised” making their angular eyes the more almond shape which is usually associated with western women reported independent.co.uk. The ISPAS Global national survey showed that Iran had more nose jobs done in 2009 than any other country, it used to be that a larger nose was beautiful in the Middle East. The British photographer Zed Nelson says sadly, “The world seems more of an eerily homogenized worldly dull and same place, like a prairie.” All these people in all these places are giving up what has for so long defined them as a culture and  as a race to become more alike, more of the same and less of the beautifully unique.

But is this epidemic of a blurry dull and same world really the fashion industries fault, is the fact that there might be a single standard of beauty due to movies that seem to only hold the most beautiful western woman in them, is it the same wave after wave of beautiful faces on magazine covers who are at fault, or is it hardwired into the human brain. Is it already set to find that perfect mate all seek to meet or be. Does the human population already have a subconscious image of the perfect person, shared by all, which eventually all have to break away from and settle for a lesser individual that looks the closest to that perfect person they could get? Studies, research and mathematical equations all point that the answer to this question is yes. Plato put beauty into statistics numbers and hypothesis, Darwin said beauty was ever changing, modern scientist have split ideas between, symmetry, DNA, to an averaged face is the prime of beauty but all of these say point to there being only one idea of beauty, but could it be true.

Scientific research found on the website jvi.org show that symmetry in the face is preferable, from a baby looking longer at a person who is more symmetrical in the face, to perfectly symmetrical computerized faces waged against the originals which when compared, the originals just fall short as symmetrical won 80% of the time by public opinion. But the reason of why there is such an associate with symmetry to beauty comes from the time where humans still lived in caves.

The theory behind symmetry being behind the most beautiful faces is the more symmetrical a face is, the healthier they were as a child. While in the womb, when humans take on the fastest rate of growth they will experience in their life, the smallest of diseases and germs make the smallest changes in the face and body as they grow making them less symmetrical. So when someone with a more symmetrical face is seen. They were known to be healthier as a child, therefore it is reasonable to assume that they will have a better chance at being a healthier adult then someone who is less symmetrical. A symmetrical face is a key identifier to a satisfactory mate as they will give their offspring a good chance of being healthy also. Though these ratios and slight unsemetrical imperfections might not be seen conciouslt in every face with every glance, the brain is hard wired to spot these tiny imperfections. So it is known, even subconsciously, that this person is a good or bad mate, whether they will give their offspring a better or worse chance of survival. Humans are programmed to look for the best, and not to settle for the average.

But maybe being average isn’t all that bad. Not in the sense that in that a person’s looks are plain, but that they are diverse and varied, an average of the world mixed together in one big melting pot. While being referred to as an average person never seemed a compliment, facereseacrch.org has done multiple studies, taking the faces from people all over the world who offer up their pictures over the internet and were able to see what an ultimate averaged face would look like with faces from every race in the world that had access to a computer. The resulting person had symmetry smooth skin and was beautiful. It was believed by most people who saw this face that it was beautiful. But they believed they were beautiful because the face showed defiant different racial qualities from almost every race.

But why would different racial qualities be seen as attractive? When an actual person has a great mix of Phenotypes and genes they are more apt to deal with a wider variety of illnesses which is why one who has more diverse feature is seen as more attractive. This is the pretext behind why Caucasian women seek to have the darker, tanner skin and hair of the Indian or Middle Eastern people. This is also the pretext of why Middle Eastern people have historically sought after lighted skin to appear more like their Caucasian counter parts. It is also why the beauty pageant winners often do not hold the unique physical qualities of their countries dominate race and also why stars such as Holly berry and Rihanna change their African American features, such as a wider nose and lower cheek bones to that of a Caucasian with surgery and only gain more followers as a result. This is a recent hypothesis as computer have only recently been able to provide the needed mathematical equations and image availability needed by scientists, yet is supported with many facts and research, so it has become a widely accepted theory.

But it is not the only widely accepted theory, another that has been around and for much longer is the Golden Ratio, a mathematical number that applies to the facial proportions and many other aspects of nature. This mathematically ration is 1 to 1.61803… according to many resources such as geom.uiuc.edu, goldennumber.net, cuip.uchicago.edu, goldenratio.com and many more. These sources all say that this is the number behind the beauty. The golden ratio is speculated to be the base of beauty, that when looking for a mate you start with this ratio. Viewzone.com tells that their is a special part of the brain called the fusiform is responsible for what is perceived as beauty. It instantly gauges ratio, symmetry and other face related qualities needed to decide if someone is a good prospective mate. Examples of this special ratio are the length of the chin to the nose which is one and the nose to the top of the head which is 1.6. The upper lip to the nose is one and nose to eye is 1.6. The chin to the middle of the lips is one and the middle of the lips to the eyes is 1.6. The ways this number applies to the human body is too numerous to list. But the number appears in more than in the face and body; this ratio also appears in the very construct of life itself.

DNA the blue print of life also plays to the golden ratio. The double helix, which is the shape of DNA measures 34 angstroms, which is a unit of measure that is equal to one ten billionth of a meter according to medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com, while the width of the double helix is 21 angstroms, 34 divided by 21 makes the extremely close ratio 1 to 1.619, vary close to the golden ratio of 1 to 1.618.

The golden ratio can be found from the tiniest sub-atomic particles of the microcosm to the spirals galaxies of the macrocosm.  “For beauty ebbing the best of all we know sums up the unsearchable and secret aims of nature.” (Brigs). The golden ratio can easily be spotted in nature, from the clock wise and counter clock wise unfolding of a daisy, the regrouping of a startled flock of birds or school of fish and though most may not find the circling of a vulture holding all that much beautiful it applies there to. The fact is that the Golden Ratio is a number that appears in almost every aspect of human life, and when it is found in a prospective mate, it is know that he or she is a good choice.

While the Golden Ratio has much science to be backed up with, the exposure hypothesis take a new approach and idea into considering what beauty is. “There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangnous in the proportions.” (Bacon). Rcgates.com helps explain the exposure effect and how it is hard wired into the human brain.  Much like the quote says, that no beautiful person that is perfect in every way. The computer simulated face, though is found by the public opinion in surveys as agreeably attractive, even more so than most beautiful of normal faces, is still found to be unsettling by its completely perfect proportions and feautres. The exposure theory is that though someone might be more attractive, someone who reminds a person of a best friend or good memory is more likely to be chosen as a mate as they give them a feeling of being safe and comfortable. Though it does give hope to those who do not possess dashing good looks, it is not readily the determining factor of choosing a mate as primal programming is hard to avoid, and primal programming says the younger the more healthier.

The idea of being younger is healthier bring to life the Neoteny hypothesis. With the average life expectance of the 1800’s being 40 according to root.sweb.ancestory.com, only a few hundred years ago it was idiotic to marry someone over 20 years old, as that was at or over middle age. Why We Feel: The Science of Human Emotions by Victor S. Johnson goes into further depth about the connection between beauty and the Neoteny hypothesis. Evolution just hasn’t had the chance to catch to the recently lengthen life span, so identifiers of beauty usually go along the lines of prime fertility. For females this includes large hips, breast, eyes and lips and a small waist and jaw line. At the moment, the age in which female beauty is at its prime, is age 23 as that was about middle age not too long ago. Humans are programed to look for the best in the species and then try to court them. Which lead humans to behave in a pattern to other more attractive humans called the Halo effect.

The Halo Effect is the studied effect of people’s actions and reactions towards other people who are more attractive and around people who are more attractive. The basis is that the more attractive that someone is, the more positive attention they will receive. “Most people tend to think the best of those who are blessed with beauty; we have difficulty imagining that physical perfection can conceal twisted emotions or a dangerous mind.” (Koontz). People who have attractive features tend to make 3 to 4 percent more in salary then there less attractive counter parts. Almost 230,000 dollars more in a lifetime is made by a more attractive person compared to an average looking person.

But the benefits of being attractive don’t end there. If attractive, there is a more likely chance to be thought successful in a job, even if the truth is contrary; this applies to either of the sexes. The social experiment on the web site articles.businessinsider.com found that 58% of attractive female bosses got good rating when coworkers were asked to rate then on being successful and competent in their jobs, while average looking bosses got only 41% and then the considered unattractive female bosses only got 23%. This is not only a female oriented thing, being attractive is beneficial for both sexes, as when this rating was done on male bosses the findings were that 61% of attractive males got a good rating, 41% of average looking bosses and 25% of unattractive male bosses were found to be good at their job. No matter where in the world, or what race someone is, if they possess attractive features they are more likely to be happier, make more money and find equally attractive partners. It truly does pay to be pretty.

Given all the research, the ratios, hypothesizes and theories, it’s hard not to believe that there really is a set standard of beauty, a generic manifold of which all wish to apply to, yet this is known not to be true.  The social experiment set forth by spring.org had one professor who was reasonable thought to be attractive made a video in which the only difference was his personality. A group of selected college students watched the video of him teaching, one where he appeared open, friendly and sincere. Another group of selected college students watched the same attractive professor but this time he had a harsh, closed off, cold and distant personality. The one where the professor was friendly he got a 70% approval rate in good teaching. When he acted cold and distant he got only a 30% approval of good teaching. A 40% drop in approval based on personality alone as the same subject was being taught in the same way.

An individual’s perception of beauty can be consciously altered based on criteria of personality intelligence and other important characteristics. Judith H. Langlois and other co-authors from the university of Texas at Austin in Maxims and Myths of Beauty, found that while most people can agree on whose is pretty out of a group, when that group of attractive people is put in front of an equally large group of the opposite sex the preference of who is the most beautiful or handsome of the generally attractive group is varied greatly. This shows that while beauty is an important key in deciding if someone is beautiful, there is not set standard as to who is truly beautiful, some people may like curly hair as when other like straight. Beauty is not alone in factoring if someone is attractive, personality, wealth or humor may also play key in deciding if someone believes if another person is attractive.

The answer to the question, is there a set standard of beauty, is no. While there is many patterns found in people that are believed to be attractive, such as symmetry and the golden ratio, preference is varied person to person so that someone who is thought beautiful by one can be thought hideous by another. Humanity can look past the face, past the beauty or imperfection of another and find what lies inside and discover a love that is not based on what one sees, but what one feels for another, and that is love, that is beauty, true beauty.