Monday, September 27, 2010

So what is beauty anyway ? Part Deux


In the eye of the beholder?


We're still exploring the idea of beauty and trying to define it.
It's not proving to be easy.It's like asking someone to define "cat".
Yes we may alll know what a cat is but what words would you use to define (not describe) one.


You'll find many 'definitions" of cat :




Feline mammal usually having thick,soft fur and no ability to roar ( I mean this could even describe a Furby or those Ewoks from Star Wars).

Computerized Axial Tomography

A small domesticated carnivore

A jazz devotee
A spiteful woman



That's what Google brings up. Don't judge me - I'm too snug and lazy to get out the dictionary and look it up. So if you didn't know what a cat was until now  . . . you still won"t know.

So where was I? Cats and beauty , cats and beauty , cats and beauty . . . why have I digressed so horribly?

Let's get back to this beauty thing - so what makes us beautiful or "attractive" (beauty and attractiveness - I feel that there is a distinct difference but more on that later). Instinctively we can deem something attractive or not attractive. It's there, ingrained our conciousness and deeply etched into our brains ( the fusiform area of our brains to be precise - I kid you not).

In my mind , I've marked the parameters of "beauty". That doesn't mean my idea of beauty and your idea of beauty match up. It doesn"t have. I want to know . . . what's your idea of it? Do you think you're beautiful - why or why not?

2 comments:

  1. So what is beauty and please i apologise in advance for being to the point. Fair enough many people may say that its in the eye of the beholder, but thats all bull shit.

    Beauty is what the media makes beauty out to be. a very well mantained body with excellent skin and a very pretty face but we are all led astray by the media and thier ability to use photo shop.

    So what is beauty? its a really hot body with an awesome face and hair to die for. lets say Kim Kardashian if you were a guy. if you were a girl well (Six pack abs great face and the ass to go with it)

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  2. Interesting that you brought up Kim Kardashian, she's coming up in a post soon (if I can cover the vastness of "The chemical peel").

    Depends if you think if beauty is skin deep or not. I think it is an incredibly complex concept that deserves some more exploration. Most people I've surveyed on the subject didn't even mention the physical aspect of being beautiful but instead went on about inner beauty, personality , warmth etc . The question is - were they being completely honest?

    Yes ,media conditioning is rife and despite knowing that photoshop is used (check out photoshopdisasters.com) many of us still strive to resemble that retouched glossy magazine cover image? why?

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Love to hear your thoughts!