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Re: Bi-racial people are more attractive
Henry T Robertson (htrst1+@pitt.edu)
8 Feb 1995 01:36:50 GMT
>>The question of attractiveness is a tricky one, and I doubt that one
>>could use international supermodels to elucidate American standards of
>>beauty. Using supermodels presumes an international, or even just a
>>European/ American standard of beauty, which I am not entirely convinced
>>exists.
The problem with these "international" studies of beauty is that they usually
concern only present-day standards of beauty in that country, which is
Westernized. What was historically considered pretty in a given country
might be quite ugly by today's "international" standards. East Asian
models today are expected to have wide eyes, narrow faces, and pointy noses
although traditionally women were considered pretty if they had slitty
eyes, round (even chubby) faces, and a round nose. European standards
of beauty have also fluctuated from fatness as a desirable trait, to an
utterly undesirable trait. 50 years ago Westerners were supposed to be
pretty if they had bluish skin. The Celts were known to paint their bodies
blue before going to combat, so maybe this was exagerrating a desirable
trait? Japanese today think it's cute to have protruding canines that push
the lips forward; 300 years ago, it was fashionable to dye their teeth black,
and 2,000 years ago it was fashionable to remove all their teeth except
the back teeth. It's suspected that this practice had some influence
on the development of Japanese language, since obviously some sounds would
be hard to pronounce if your front teeth are missing. Contact with the
Chinese introduced new sounds, so they stopped removing their teeth so they
can pronounce them.
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