Proportions of Beauty
Beauty is a difficult subject to decipher. It often happens that when we talk about beauty we are talking about any number of things.
A woman can be beautiful because of her charming personality or the humanitarian nature of her being.
Perhaps she is fun to be around or works in a soup kitchen on the weekends?
She might be seen as beautiful by other women because of a certain trendy outfit and expensive make-up she wears. Men may see the woman as beautiful because of a body part that is considered to be an asset in that particular part of the world.
The culture and the times certainly influence everyone’s perception of what exactly is beautiful. In the XVI century in Europe for example, very white skin was considered to be an asset, a sign of beauty, a sign of prestige. Those with white skin could afford to be in the shade, meaning that they do not have to work for a living, or at least they don’t have to tend to the land (these types of jobs were dominant at the time). Darker skin meant that one had to work in the fields and therefore was poor and subsequently less beautiful.
Today a tan signifies health and vitality. It is also associated with the fact that the individual with the tan can afford to lie around in the sun, so perhaps some things haven’t changed.
Some of the things described above are fashion trends, cultural influences, and generally a more muddled definition of beauty, taking in a number of human traits rather than focusing on the literal meaning of the word beauty.
What I want to address here is strictly the physical aspects of the face and body, and how it manifests in nature.
What is Beauty?
“Beauty is a subjective concept, however studies have shown that although there are cultural variations, most things considered beautiful have one thing in common: the Phi ratio.”
- Dr. Martin Jugenburg, Chief Plastic Surgeon at the Toronto Cosmetic Surgery Institute.
The Golden Ratio is also known as Phi and is 1.618 to 1, or 1 to 0.618. Any vertical or horizontal measurement that responds to this ratio is considered beautiful.
For example each side of a woman’s face is inherently different, women have the most proportionally identical features on each side tend to be considered more beautiful than other less proportional faces, generally because they follow the golden ratio more closely.
This is a hard concept to visualize and in order to understand it we must look at the root of the golden ratio, which lies in mathematics. The mathematical proportion of two quantities that are in the golden ratio is defined so, if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their sum.
The Golden Ratio
Just imagine using the outlines of the rectangle to measure different parts of one’s face, body or anything seen in nature and otherwise.
The golden ratio is the only world standard that can truly define the physical aspects of beauty, as seen by the human race.
“Beautiful faced, bodies, breasts, even inanimate objects, if they follow the Phi (the golden ratio) proportions, they tend to be perceived by most people as beautiful.”
- Dr. Martin Jugenburg, Chief Plastic Surgeon at the Toronto Cosmetic Surgery Institute.
Now let’s move on to the rest of the human form. We understand that the face and body needs to be of certain proportions, but that is certainly not the only thing that is attractive to us.
The Biological Factors of Beauty
Youthfulness and health are the other two elements that make one seem more beautiful. Biologically we are conditioned to find mates who are attractive (proportionally), and who appear young and healthy. Have you ever wondered why so many people, especially women are attracted to young children, kittens, or just about any baby mammal. In order to survive and for the human race to continue to evolve, this type of mentality had to develop.
As the old saying goes, hair, skin and nails are a sign of beauty.
Biologically the most attractive feature of a woman is her skin. You can tell by the skin, hair and nails how healthy and/or young a person is.
While healthy skin is the most universally desired human ‘body part’, interestingly enough while the absence of body hair on females is attractive for males, the opposite is true for females.
Yet another fascinating biological factor, generally men are most attracted to light, long, straight hair and a light complexion. The reason for this is, considering most races, babies are often born with lighter hair and sometimes eyes and only with age those features become darker. Once again subconsciously this evolutionary process has forced human beings to view lighter features as more youthful and thus considered more beautiful.
What beauty is not
We often confuse beauty with fashion and elegance. While fashion is a magnificent expression of art and creativity it is simply a personal expression or perhaps a trend that allows us to feel as part of a whole.
‘From this many aberrations in taste follow: luxurious grooming leads an ugly woman to be judged beautiful, while the beauty of a woman wearing an unfashionable costume passes unnoticed. Dress has constituted a beauty by conventions, which often supersede true beauty. The majority of women believe that this is to their advantage; for, lacking true beauty, so rare, a woman always has the money to procure the beauty that can be bought.’
- Marcel Braunschvig, La femme et la beaute (Paris, 1919), p. 135.
On the other hand if one wears outfits flattering to her body type and in stride with the golden ratio, then in fact that person would become more beautiful. Grooming, such as an eyebrow trim, or applying make-up a certain way(contouring and underlining certain features) may also give a woman’s face the golden ratio she desires.
Besides fashion trends, there are cultural variations, that need to be accounted for.
“ In the western culture thinner bodies are more appealing. In some African tribes more fat is appealing. There is a tribe in Africa where women go out and fatten up to gain as much weight as possible before a wedding as being overweight is a sign of prestige, power. In Europe smaller breasts are considered beautiful while in North America larger breasts are considered beautiful. This is demonstrated by the typical breast implant sizes used for breast augmentation. Much smaller implants are typically used in Europe than in Canada.”
- Dr. Martin Jugenburg, Chief Plastic Surgeon at the Toronto Cosmetic Surgery Institute.
Dr. Jugenburg, a Canadian plastic surgeon, tells me that when he speaks to his European colleagues they view the breast implants he usually uses in his practice, as too large. Yet when comparing average breast implants with a plastic surgeon that has a practice in Houston, Texas, U.S.A. for example, his implants seems rather small.
All these examples greatly underline how culture influences the perception of beauty. Everyday we are influenced by the images we see around us. Whether it is architecture, nature, TV commercials, or fashion, all these elements of our everyday life influence us to perceive things a certain way, therefore ever so slightly skewing our perception of beauty.
The Golden Ratio + Youth + Health = Beauty
Culture is so closely intertwined with fashion that sometimes it not clear which one came from which. Did Paris create the French Femme Fatale or did high fashion so well developed in France create the cultural myth of the French woman?
We can never definitively say whether it was one or the other.
What we can say for certain however, the universal formula for beauty, the golden ratio, with an added hearty dose of health and the appearance of youth, equals our understanding of beauty.
Originally published in Belle Exotique
Photos: Fotolia. Featured blogger before and after, Masha Trotsko
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