Like many of you, I've always been drawn to beautiful women and have admired -- and envied -- handsome men for their attractiveness. I've always
pondered over this question: what was it that was so compelling about the beauty of others, beit facial and physical attractiveness?
Of course, physical attractiveness is not the only part of being human and that there's a whole LOT of other aspects to our personalities besides our
physical selves -- this thread is not about the other aspects of our selves... significant, though they certainly are. This thread is specifically
about physical beauty -- or the lack of it -- and why people are so compelled, so drawn to physical beauty.
So what is it about physical beauty that is so compelling to so many people in so many cultures?
A short overview of the standard POV of beauty:
en.wikipedia.org...
Of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but there are common aspects of beauty that draws people -- in any culture -- towards beauty, to
delight in beauty, to be compelled by beauty in human form. What is it that's so compelling about beauty in human form that widely populates
magazines, TVs, movies and the Internet, where pornagraphy is one of the biggest, if not the biggest data loading on the Internet.
So what is it about human physical beauty that is so compelling? Even babies are drawn to people with beautiful faces than ones whose beauty is not
so compelling. Why is that? I've approached a baby who smiled with my smiling, yet, when I drew on lipstick around my mouth, drew on black bags
under my eyes and approached the same baby minutes later smiling like I did before, the baby freaked and immediately started to bawl.
Here's another one that gets closer to what I'm talking about:
en.wikipedia.org...
And this one is a good one examining the aversion of people who have radically-different features in their physical appearances:
en.wikipedia.org...
So what does beauty mean to you?
I find that I am moved by any kind of beauty -- the beauty in snowflakes, in nature, in animals, in humans, in the cosmos, in the geometries of the
Universe, in beautiful music, in the skies with natural clouds and deep-blue skies, in sunsets, in moments of connection with other people and
connection with my own Higher Self and so on. So beauty has many meanings for me.
Yet, I still find myself being compelled and drawn to people who have exceptionally beautiful faces and bodies and I wonder why that is the case,
'cause I know from my experience that one cannot judge by one's jacket at all, as there are SO many people who are otherwise extremely talented in
many ways, other than their physical appearances that may be a bit below the common standards of what is considered "beautiful" by many people,
cross-culturally.
I've been intimate with women who were "hot", yet their personalities... ugh, I wouldn't touch them with a ten-foot pole after getting to know
them. The most-memorable woman for me was a cute, earthy and petite brunette who was not "hot", but, boy, was she a pleasure to be around with!
Intellectually-stimulating, physically-stimulating, emotionally-stimulating and just plain enjoyable to be around with. Even though we are not
together, we still love and respect each other dearly.
So what is it that you find in beautiful people that is so compelling?
If you find any useful articles or urls that can shed some light on this question, feel free to share, as well as your own perspectives on what
people's beauty means to you.
[edit on 21-10-2009 by Historical-Mozart]