The Science of Beauty
While watching Oprah, yes I watch Oprah occasionally depending on the subject, ha... on 4/3/09, she discussed with experts the subject of 'BioStats'. The 'science of beauty' and how pheromones, smell, look, shape, size, timing, ovulation, androstendione, the 'golden measure' of proportion of the face, and other interesting characteristics factor into how we perceive beauty, attraction & finding a mate.
Scientists conducted exercises & experiments where the scenarios of 'community' consisted of potential mates, eliminated distractions such as hair, clothes, and other attributes may affect ones definition of beauty. One that was very interesting lined up 10 males and 10 females on each side of the room, all in blue outfits, heads covered, similar shape/size/look according to gender, and they had to shake hands with the person they were interested in, if liked more they would take to the middle/front of the room. It went quickly, people judged based on quick instinct, and it was amazing how the similar numbers matched up according to 'attraction' level related to the 'scale of beauty' which differed in very minor ways (such as distance of nose from forehead), and like in 'meet & greet' bar like situations, first movers eliminated possibilities, so others that were 'less attractive' ended up having to 'settle'.
It's amazing if you dissect commercials, ads, billboards, etc. and see how they spoon feed you what beauty is supposed to be. I hope people define beauty beyond surface, but it is inevitable for us to be attracted to others based on superficial features & judge how we are to mate by human factors of how we define beauty. Just watch the commercials for skin care, beauty products, clothes, etc. and how sexualized they are. I have even seen how Old Navy utilized mannequins to sexualize their commercials, the restaurant Fridays 'take your top off' to a pretty lady was said (regarding their campaign related to a certain dish with a cover on it). I am not boycotting to be boring, but there are some commercials that don't make sense, go overboard, and make me uncomfortable watching if there were children in the room, and these kids see this stuff & define more than we realize by what they see, hear & are fed by media. Sex sells, but is it also detrimental to healthy sexuality? That's a whole other subject beyond 'the science of beauty', but wanted to share.
It was interesting when the scientists conducted a study where there were 3 guys in the 'low, middle & high' beauty range, but when the 'high' was associated with being an admin vs. the 'low' being a successful business man, his attraction level went through the roof to the ladies giving the scores. It was an interesting 'social experiment', and inspired some interesting insights.
Scientists conducted exercises & experiments where the scenarios of 'community' consisted of potential mates, eliminated distractions such as hair, clothes, and other attributes may affect ones definition of beauty. One that was very interesting lined up 10 males and 10 females on each side of the room, all in blue outfits, heads covered, similar shape/size/look according to gender, and they had to shake hands with the person they were interested in, if liked more they would take to the middle/front of the room. It went quickly, people judged based on quick instinct, and it was amazing how the similar numbers matched up according to 'attraction' level related to the 'scale of beauty' which differed in very minor ways (such as distance of nose from forehead), and like in 'meet & greet' bar like situations, first movers eliminated possibilities, so others that were 'less attractive' ended up having to 'settle'.
It's amazing if you dissect commercials, ads, billboards, etc. and see how they spoon feed you what beauty is supposed to be. I hope people define beauty beyond surface, but it is inevitable for us to be attracted to others based on superficial features & judge how we are to mate by human factors of how we define beauty. Just watch the commercials for skin care, beauty products, clothes, etc. and how sexualized they are. I have even seen how Old Navy utilized mannequins to sexualize their commercials, the restaurant Fridays 'take your top off' to a pretty lady was said (regarding their campaign related to a certain dish with a cover on it). I am not boycotting to be boring, but there are some commercials that don't make sense, go overboard, and make me uncomfortable watching if there were children in the room, and these kids see this stuff & define more than we realize by what they see, hear & are fed by media. Sex sells, but is it also detrimental to healthy sexuality? That's a whole other subject beyond 'the science of beauty', but wanted to share.
It was interesting when the scientists conducted a study where there were 3 guys in the 'low, middle & high' beauty range, but when the 'high' was associated with being an admin vs. the 'low' being a successful business man, his attraction level went through the roof to the ladies giving the scores. It was an interesting 'social experiment', and inspired some interesting insights.
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