Beauty & The Beast Syndrome

[k1w1]

But, where do we get these beliefs? Certainly not as kids, where some of our most cherished cuddle toys: TeleTubbies, Sesame Street, etc, are grotesquely 'ugly' beasts. It's the sly and careful programing that goes into the making of each and every one of us.

So many on this site, (myself included) are sad that Hunks had to be added to the mix to make for 'better' viewing. We feel cheated, believing that maybe THIS time, the Hunchback could have gotten the girl. But as Willow Rosenberg said in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Oh, no, he could neverget the girl...he had to many bumps and ridges on his face!

Not to be too critical here but the explanation is quite simple really. It's human nature to look for the "perfect" mate. It's what being a human being is about. I don't care if we live in the cave man age or 16th century or 1990s, human beings had always been and continues to put "beauty" on a higher pedestol than most everything else. By "beauty" I don't just mean physical looks, but including wealth, power, talent etc etc.

So to suggest that somehow we are duped into this culture of worshipping the "beauty" is non-sense imo. I think we're already born with that prejudice and the media, such as TV, only reflects what/ who we are as people, not because it is creating something artificial as "hunks" or "cuties" to be our ultimate goal for perfection. We already know it.

[Duxxy]

alert...

Actually human animals are attracted to symmetry not 'beauty'
A perfect woman has a 7 ratio. That is the ratio between her waist and her hips. 7's are perfect childbearing hips. That ratio means that the idea of the 'perfect 10' can come in all shapes and sizes.

[arabela]

alert...

Actually human animals are attracted to symmetry not 'beauty'
A perfect woman has a 7 ratio. That is the ratio between her waist and her hips. 7's are perfect childbearing hips. That ratio means that the idea of the 'perfect 10' can come in all shapes and sizes.

Don't believe in "7" theory, but yes, beauty can come in all shapes and sizes. Let's say, the human animal is attracted to health.

[k1w1]

Don't believe in "7" theory, but yes, beauty can come in all shapes and sizes. Let's say, the human animal is attracted to health.

In mel's case, male models

[mom2]

What do you mean 7 ratio?? I have no idea what this means. Could someone politely enlighten me?

[a_canuck_01]

What do you mean 7 ratio?? I have no idea what this means. Could someone politely enlighten me?

Sure, it is actually 0.7, (range 0.6 to 0.8) which is the ratio of the size of waist to hips, supposedly the ideal for child bearing and attractiveness. (Essentially the hourglass figure.) (Divide your waist size by your hips circumference size)

And it works for different races, body types, weights etc.

There is also the issue of symmetry in faces and bodies which is also a powerful cue for human attractiveness. (Remember that's why Evil Dr. Will in Big Brother kept plucking his eyebrows to keep symmetry in his face =)

*shrug*

Personally I think our base animal instincts can be overcome by greater incentives than mere ratios, but it is interesting none the less.


http://dubinserver.colorado.edu/prj/kga/Ratio.html

Defining a universal standard of body beauty seems nearly impossible considering the differences that are observed cross culturally and across time. But if our ideals of size change from one time and place to the next, our taste in shapes is amazingly stable. A low waist to hip ratio of .6 to .8 meaning the waist is 60 to 80 percent of the hips is a biological indicator of health and fertility in females. Before puberty and after menopause, females have essentially the same waistlines as males. But during puberty a typical girl gains 35 pounds of reproductive fat around her hips and thighs. Almost anything that interferes with fertility-obesity, malnutrition, pregnancy, and menopause changes a woman’s shape making the waist-hip ratio the best visual indicator for reproductive health. Men from all backgrounds, nationalities, and ages have been asked to identify the most attractive, sexy, healthy and fertile looking female from a series of pictures of women ranging in waist-hip ratios of .6 to 10. The runaway favorite is the figure of a woman with a .7 waist-hip ratio which is not so coincidentally the ideal waist to hip ratio for a healthy woman to get pregnant.

** Playboy centerfolds and Miss America winners from 1923-1990 have gotten measurably leaner over the decades yet their wait-hip ratios have stayed within the narrow range of .68-.72. **

[mom2]

Thank you for explaining. I'd never heard of that before.

[lambikins]

Along with the ratio, which ties into species survival, there is a growing interest in how we pick our mates by "smell". No, not whether they smell good or not, but, if they smell like us when they sweat.

Here's some hope for the Average Joe; note the use of the term 'average' in this article, which has nothing to do with the show.

****************************** ****

Secret of attraction may lie in man's scent


NEW YORK, Apr 28 (Reuters Health) - Forget cologne. There's something irresistible about a sweaty man, according to British researchers.

In a study in which women were unwittingly exposed to a man's hormone-packed armpit sweat, the intoxicating scent boosted the women's attraction to even average-looking men. The allure was particularly strong for women who were not on birth control pills or who were at the midpoint of their menstrual cycles. Dr. Nick Neave, of the University of Northumbria in Newcastle upon Tyne, reported the findings recently at the annual meeting of the British Psychological Society.

In the study, 32 college women were asked to rate the attractiveness of male characters in stories, male body shapes, and men's faces in photos. Unknown to the women, during part of the study, the researchers dabbed the lab environment with male pheromones, hormones found in body secretions that are known to trigger physiological responses in other people.

Neave's team found that the sweaty conditions prompted women to give higher ratings to the characters, body shapes, and photos. The "average-looking" faces made out best, with the pheromones giving them a bigger boost on the attractiveness scale, compared with the better-looking faces.

The 16 women on birth control pills, however, showed less response to the pheromones. In a statement, Neave said: "This study provides some evidence that male attractiveness can be influenced by pheromones. Women who use oral contraception may be missing out on natural signals of attraction."