Eyebrow hypothesis

Eyebrow hypothesis
I came up with this theory, on my way to work this morning, regarding women’s eyebrows – more specifically I think I finally understand why some pluck them so high.

This cosmetic alteration is a product of male attraction to submission, and the female gender picking up on this attraction.

The eyebrows are clear indicators of what amount, and even what kind, of thought process is going on in a person’s head. When we are thinking we tend to lower our eyebrows, when we are listening we lift them. This is due to the fact that even though we might feel we communicate almost exclusively through words, as much as half of the stuff communicated is through tone and body language. So we open our senses, by raising our eyebrows, to get in as much information as possible.

I imagine some of you know by now where this is going.

Since women seen from a historical perspective have had the submissive role in relationships, and hence been forced to listen to all kinds of BS, I think the male gender has become prone to women with raised eyebrows.
When women began to pluck their eyebrows a subconscious decision to conceal thought process then came naturally.

Just so there are no misunderstandings.
I do not think women who pluck their eyebrows are submissive, and I don’t necessarily think men who are attracted to it think so. But I believe this is where the attraction originated.
I do not think this is the sole reason women pluck their eyebrows today. But I believe this have had a huge implication of the style.

Another interesting thing about this is how we perceive masculinity and femininity. This just comes to show that many of the trademarks are just the result of cultural influence. But I have always been a little bias towards nurture, over nature, so I might be overanalyzing.
Anyway – I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. It is still just a wee little theory, with plenty of room for improvement.

Interesting..have you researched to see if a study has been done? Doesn't seem too difficult to make a study..show same woman with high or low eyebrows and rate the attractiveness.

Your hypothesis sounds reasonable...keep throwing out those ideas.

Peace

I guess that still wouldn't tell us why though..Doh : )

Interesting indeed. I will show my gf this in the morning and see what she thinks.

Good hypothesis!

I will relay this to my other half, and while she is reading this, i will have a looky at the brow area

Lol, not sure about your theory, but wanted to let you know its 'Pluck' not 'Plug'!!!

I had visions of 'plugging hair back into their holes, ha ha!

reply to post by Mads1987


Now that's a very interesting theory. I've often wondered where the certain style rituals of women come from, and why they persist. Some may find it odd I neglect to do them myself as I am a woman, but I never seen the point. My eyebrows are not bushy, or growing out of "bounds" as it were. But, then again, I've always been more of a tom-boy.

You theory gives a new perspective on the whole eyebrow waxing/plucking and why it's considered so attractive..Still, It makes me think of those women who (IMHO) take it too far and remove their eyebrows completely and then replace them with a thin penciled line. I find the look unattractive myself, but I've noticed the woman who do this seem to over exaggerate the curve when they draw them on. It seems to fit your idea, but I suspect your theory is only one part of the reason women (and men where applicable) groom in this way.

I think the raised eyebrow also denotes a less stressed, more youthful and therefore more fun-loving and receptive personality. Traits most ( I think) find attractive. Either way, another of many odd practices for the sake of (relative) beauty.

reply to post by jewells


Hahah - damn.
I'll just fix that. Thanks!

reply to post by Inquisitive1


Thank you for the great insight. It is intersting to hear a womens point of view. To be honest I feared the reaction a bit.
I think you are absolutely right that raised eyebrows also signals a less stressed personality - and I would add that I think it ties together with our perception of women not only as partners but also as the stereotypical mother. Observeing, caring, understanding and so on.

reply to post by spav5


Sorry, didn't see your question.

I did a quick google search on the subject before I posted and no theoretical information came up. I imagine I am not the first to think in these lines. I mean, didn't freud do some analogies on lipstick and the female genitalia. I might be wrong, but either way, I have heard theories on womens cosmetics before.
But to my knowledge no research have been done on this subject.

What about those women who remove all of the brow
and then paint it back on, wtf

Originally posted by LeLeu
What about those women who remove all of the brow
and then paint it back on, wtf

Good question. I imagine it depends on the placement of the painted eyebrows.
But honestly I think these to be the most extreme cases. I am however still not sure if it is a matter of hiding thought process or just plain old sexual attraction.

Uh...*ahem*....women PLUCK their eyebrows...as society has dictated that bushy unibrows on a women are not attractive. Most men prefer a groomed eyebrow on a woman, rather than a natural, albeit, bushy one. Now...I think your theory on the curvature of the brow is indeed an interesting one...and I believe the art of tweezing came into play in the Roaring 20's...which is when the higher society deemed it a cultural necessity.

*sighs* oh the things we do...good thread

Originally posted by whos2know
Uh...*ahem*....women PLUCK their eyebrows...as society has dictated that bushy unibrows on a women are not attractive. Most men prefer a groomed eyebrow on a woman, rather than a natural, albeit, bushy one. Now...I think your theory on the curvature of the brow is indeed an interesting one...and I believe the art of tweezing came into play in the Roaring 20's...which is when the higher society deemed it a cultural necessity.

*sighs* oh the things we do...good thread

edit on 2/28/2012 by whos2know because: grammatical

I am not sure if you are agreeing or disagreeing with me when you say that society dictated that bushy unibrow women aren't fine.
Either way, I am not trying to give credit or put blame on anybody, but simply to propose a reason for why we chose this way. I mean, why not big eyebrows for women and small for men. Why do men prefer this. Why not something completely different, and I do not believe any of this to be a matter of genes or natural behaviour.

I think that back in the olden day when we all lived in caves and cleaned our behinds with banana-leaves, and properly even earlier, men figured out they were stronger than women. So men started dominating.
As I stated earlier we communicate not only through words but also through tone and body language, so it is a natural thing to raise ones eyebrows to get the best possible field of vision when one is engaged in a conversation or is listening. I think this even goes for animals.
So we started associating raised eyebrows with femininity - not because the action is done by women only, men do it to when listening, but because women were the ones listening the most and therefore just did it more. And eventually men started seeing this as an attractive feature.

It's like the experiment where a person rings a bell right after serving a meal to a dog, and if done long enough, eventually when the dog hears the bell its mouth will water, not because it just ate but because the sound has become so connected with the sensation of just having eaten, that the two experiences are inseparable.

Men are dogs, eyebrows are bells.

Right now I have pink panther eyebrows..about 2 inches above my head. Usually they are situated - albeit penciled in - beyond my normal reptillian/neanderthal mix.
I'll leave it up to you whether you deem this submissive or whether I'm just sporting a tipsy WTF face...

You know where I think it stems from?.
You don't really see the eyebrow thing very often over here unless it's A, a goth, B, a retro lover or C, that strange big eyebrow thing that's caught on from the Towie brigade. That's because during the 30's natural brows were fashionable, during the mid 30's into the 40's the less time you arsed over your face the better when working for the war effort (hence whipping them off and penciling them in), from the 80's to now we've gone back to the thirties big bushy bastards are awesome thing...

They aren't though..Whip em off and do the 40's brows, It's got nothing to do with anything other than they are practical.

Either way, I am not trying to give credit or put blame on anybody, but simply to propose a reason for why we chose this way. I mean, why not big eyebrows for women and small for men

I'm sorry, but that's silly, a hairier man is indicative of someone with testosterone to breed with surely? Why is it only a few generations ago we thought the likes of hairy James Bond sex symbols yet men also go out of their way to eradicate their body hair?. Are we projecting something or are the men of today projecting something that we are supposed to embrace to be the norm?. Works both ways I suppose.

reply to post by Mads1987


Neither - merely stating my opinion. I'm the first to admit that a well done eyebrow on a women looks fantastic - eyebrows frame the face - so paying attn to detail in how the brow is arched is crucial. I think this is a great thread - something I never really put any thought into...no harm, no foul. I believe society sets very high standards on how a woman should be visually attractive to a man...and as with every man - each has his own preference...