As I approach my 200th column for the Straits Times's Mind Your Body supplement, I thought I'd take a trip down Memory Lane and share the first ever one, which was published way back in March 2008.
THE BODY BEAUTIFUL
Beauty takes
many forms. A landscape can be
beautiful. So can a symphony or a poem. Some people find beauty in ballet or football. Others discover it in scientific equations or
games of chess.
My personal list of heart-achingly beautiful things includes: the night
sky; the Australian outback; Kate Bush’s song This Woman’s Work; the mathematical
proof that there are an infinite number of prime numbers; and Kate Winslet.
But what is beauty? What is the mysterious, magical quality that beautiful
objects possess? What common characteristics
do beautiful objects share? This is a
fiendishly difficult question.
Philosophers have debated it for thousands of years without finding a
definitive answer.
But, nothing daunted, in this and the following two columns I would like to
explore one very specific aspect of beauty: namely that of the human form.
The body beautiful
People often say
that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
By this, they mean that individuals’ perceptions of physical beauty are largely
subjective. But I do not agree.
When very young babies are shown photographs of faces, they prefer to gaze
upon those that are conventionally beautiful.
This suggests that there are innate criteria for gauging physical
attractiveness. Furthermore, people from
diverse ethnic cultures tend to agree strongly about just how attractive individuals
from other populations are. Again, this
suggests that universal criteria are being applied.
Of course, there are some individual and cultural differences. Take skin-tone, for example. When I was living in Singapore I was
amazed to see face-whitening products on sale in drug-stores. Here in the UK, people buy fake tan.
Despite these differences, by and large, people share similar ideas about
what makes someone beautiful. The ideal
male has a strong, athletic body. He is
tall (but not too tall) with an upright posture. His features are regular and his skin unblemished. He has white teeth, bright eyes and lustrous
hair.
Evolutionary psychology provides one theory about why we find such
features attractive. Good teeth, bright
eyes, lustrous hair and upright stature all denote good health. A strong, athletic physique implies the
ability to hunt and fight well. So the conventionally
beautiful man is the ideal mate. He is
likely to produce healthy offspring and be a good provider.
Any woman who is predisposed to find such men attractive is
correspondingly likely to mate with one, and therefore stands a better-than-average
chance of passing on her own genetic material to future generations. Insofar as such predispositions are
genetically encoded and inheritable, they will gradually come to predominate
among women.
Similar considerations explain men’s preferences for certain physical
characteristics in women.
In praise of the body beautiful
To me, this
theory of physical attractiveness seems very plausible. In any case, there is no doubt that we humans
take pleasure in faces and bodies of certain types. In itself, this is no bad thing. Why should we not take as much delight in shapely
figures and handsome faces as we do in other beautiful objects?
And, since beautiful bodies are so attractive, who would not wish to possess
one? Not in the sense of wanting a
physically desirable mate (although, clearly, most of us do). But in the sense of wanting to be handsome or
pretty oneself.
All else being equal, I would certainly prefer to be a few inches taller
than I am, have whiter teeth and not be plagued by a receding hairline.
But here, a cautionary note is appropriate. Despite what we may think, good-looks actually
do very little to improve our happiness.
It is tempting to think, If only I
were better-looking, I would be much happier. But in fact beautiful people turn out to be
scarcely happier than the rest of us. So
perhaps it is wise not to place too much emphasis on how we look.
It is natural for us to want to make progress in key areas of our
lives. So we need not be ashamed of
wanting to look healthy, well-groomed and attractive. But as with so much else in life it is all a
matter of balance. This will be the
topic of my next column.