Keyword: BEAUTY | Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

The Cambridge Dictionary online has different definitions for beauty:

• 1. “the quality of being pleasing and attractive” or “a person or thing that is pleasing and attractive”;
• 2. “the business of making people look attractive, using make-up, treatments, etc.”;
• 3. “something that is an excellent example of its type”.

1.
Beauty does not exist by itself; it is linked to what we value. For example, it is proven that we value symmetry, thus, humans who have a symmetrical face are considered more beautiful than all others. The same is true for architecture, especially buildings dating back to Classical Antiquity. However, symmetry by itself is not enough. Proportions are also important and the study of the Golden Ratio has confirmed that it was crucial for constructing the most beautiful buildings and representations of the perfect human body.

Other features are also important, for example, expression. Statues that are perfect, but have empty eyes and a neutral posture can be considered less beautiful than those which show some emotion, whether it is suffering, joy, fury, or expectation, for instance. People feel more attracted to what they can identify with and we all have emotions. And, of course, the more pleasurable those emotions are, the more they catch our eye. Colour is also another characteristic to consider. It is not by chance that the most famous paintings are colourful. However, the balance between colours is also important. Too much red and yellow in the Western countries might be considered tasteless. On the other hand, in China, these two colours are hugely appreciated.

Purpose has also some influence. Obviously, you can have objects with the sole purpose of being pretty, but this is not usually the case. Decorative objects usually have a theoretical function, even if they would never be used as such. Natural landscapes can also have purposes: to get fresh air, to escape from city life, to go hiking, to climb (the mountains), to connect with nature and feel energized. As long as it is enjoyable in some way, it is beautiful. For example, the image of chimneys spewing dark smoke in a bleak city is not enjoyable at all; it can actually make us feel miserable. However, not everyone enjoys the same landscapes. Some people prefer beaches to mountains, snowy fields to forests, historical buildings to modern buildings. Or the way around.

Although a major contribution, physical attraction is not enough for someone to be considered beautiful. Other qualities such as honesty, sense of humour, confidence, courage, kindness, and intelligence, are crucial. In fact, characteristics considered “bad”, like hypocrisy, being sullen, insecurity, cowardice, arrogance, stupidity, can taint the beauty of a perfect body. Of course, the way we dress and present ourselves matters. Dressing properly is equally important to make a good impression.

2.
Hair dyeing, make-up, perfume, beauticians and barber shops, SPAs, lotions of all kinds, fashionable clothing and glittering jewellery, gyms and health centres… Natural beauty is a wonderful thing, especially if it has a little (big) help. The richer you are, the more chances you have of becoming beautiful. If everything fails, you can always resort to plastic surgery. Money can make you slimmer, younger and more radiant. It can also pay psychologists or coaches (or both) for you to learn how to look happier, more confident, and more accomplished. It can also pay for luxury holidays for you to enjoy the most spectacular places on earth… as long as there is a swimming pool and massages and all kinds of treatments.

The beauty industry is based on an image that was created by the industry itself. For example, companies that sell pills and diets for people getting slimmer, present slimmer bodies as an ideal body. If you look at the paintings in Art Museums, we see women posing as models who today could be considered “fat”. However, you do not see many “old” women with wrinkles, so skin care companies may be right to want to eliminate wrinkles on the faces of modern women. As for men, the ideal image still stands: strong, powerful, and wealthy (regardless of how ugly and old they might be). Yet, some decades ago, the beauty industry thought it was a good idea to help men in such a quest (and make men less fat, less ugly and less old, just in case).

3.
We aim to be perfect and we aim to achieve perfection. Perfection is the ideal solution, the benchmark against which all other possible solutions are compared. Sometimes perfection is unattainable, but when it is achieved it is considered a “beauty”. In truth, it does not have to be perfect (but almost) to be considered a beauty: a beautiful music, a beautiful mathematical equation, a beautiful gourmet meal, a beautiful archive, a beautiful book, a beautiful adventure. In some fields, excellence is generally recognized the same way, like in sport, but in others fields it depends on each one’s perception. For example, a person can consider that a living room totally white (walls and furniture) with very few objects is excellent, and the person living in the apartment next door may think that warm colours, wood furniture and a lot of objects are what makes a perfect living room.