So what is beautiful?
How did you and I develop the idea of 'beautiful'? Why is it that we generally share a picture of what is beautiful and what is not?
How did you and I develop the idea of 'beautiful'? Why is it that we generally share a picture of what is beautiful and what is not?
Is it biological?
Evolutionary psychologists might argue that we know what is beautiful and share that idea because we inherently know what traits indicate fertility and reproductive fitness. Therefore, we find the characteristics related to reproductive potential the most attractive - so young/healthy and large breasts and hips with a small waist and most importantly, a body and face having symmetry (Feng, 2002).
But the ideal social image of beauty has changed over time and across cultures so it is not just related to evolution and reproduction.
But the ideal social image of beauty has changed over time and across cultures so it is not just related to evolution and reproduction.
Or is it Social?
'Bathsheba' (1664) by Rembrandt van Rijn
Looking at art and other cultural images throughout history, one can see that the ideal form has not been static but has changed, though the most dramatic changes have taken place in the last century. Plumpness was considered ideal for most of our history (Grogan, 2008). Even in the beginning of the 20th century, women depicted as an ideal type were larger with fuller figures and fuller stomachs (Aronson et al., 2010). Being well fed was a sign of success and prosperity.
In the 1920s, flat-chested and straight hipped "boyish" figures were beautiful
In the early 1940's, women were supposed to be like the 'pin-up' girls. The ideal shape then was a curvy or hour-glass figure and this would last several decades. Think of Marilyn Monroe.
With increasingly thinner models like Twiggy in the 1960s, thinness became popular again (Aronson et al., 2010). This ideal has stayed and is becoming thinner.
The social influence on body image becomes more apparent when you examine gender differences in the ideal body type. Generally women want to be thinner than they currently are and men want to be heavier and more muscular than they currently are (Steg, Buunk and Rothengatter, 2008).
For men...
'David' by Michelangelo
..the use of ideal images in the media has been relatively more recent, becoming more 'visible' in the 1980s and 1990s (Grogan, 2008). Yet, even before that, men aspired to be muscular, with well-defined muscles in the chest and arms and a thin waist and thin hips. For men the ideal is the middle shape, neither thin nor fat. And currently, the ideal type is much more muscular than it was in the past (Aronson et al., 2010).
Beauty and the ideal body shape have changed not only across time but across cultures. It is socially determined and not universal. Many societies of the world consider plumpness to be attractive (Aronson et al., 2010). North American culture does not. It considers thinness to be the ideal. Research supports the idea that what is defined as attractive by a culture is shaped by the availability of resources. Countries where resources were in limited supply considered heavier forms to be the most attractive. Heavier bodies were, overall, considered to be more attractive by most cultures, even in present day. Societies where resources were ample, considered thinness to be attractive (Aronson et al., 2010).
Does our society shape what we think of as beautiful and as an ideal body? Yes, it most certainly does.
How does it do this? Read on….
Beauty and the ideal body shape have changed not only across time but across cultures. It is socially determined and not universal. Many societies of the world consider plumpness to be attractive (Aronson et al., 2010). North American culture does not. It considers thinness to be the ideal. Research supports the idea that what is defined as attractive by a culture is shaped by the availability of resources. Countries where resources were in limited supply considered heavier forms to be the most attractive. Heavier bodies were, overall, considered to be more attractive by most cultures, even in present day. Societies where resources were ample, considered thinness to be attractive (Aronson et al., 2010).
Does our society shape what we think of as beautiful and as an ideal body? Yes, it most certainly does.
How does it do this? Read on….