Beauty criteria revealed
It was also found that children's proportions (the skin of adults did not change) add attractiveness. In the course of the experiment, photos of adult women were changed using computer graphics - children's features were added. In particular, the head was enlarged, most of the face was taken away to the convex forehead, the rest of the features were shifted somewhat downward, the nose was reduced and shortened, the cheeks were rounded, the eyes were made large and round. The majority of those surveyed preferred faces with childish traits ranging from 10 to 50 percent.
Psychologists believe that the attractiveness of a combination of childhood and maturity in a woman has a biological rationale: men, on a subconscious level, prefer young girls, since they are more capable of childbearing, stay longer in childbearing age, respectively, they can give birth to more children, to whom a man will pass on his genes further. At the same time, mature features signal to a man that a woman is no longer a child and can become a mother.
The second conclusion that scientists from the University of Regensburg were able to draw is that there is a stereotype of the perception of a beautiful person. At the final stage of the experiment, the subjects were asked to rate the character of people whose faces were found to be beautiful and, conversely, repulsive. The more spectacular the face was, the more successful, prosperous, pleasant, spiritual, intelligent, and diligent its owner was considered.
Beautiful people are credited with being very creative, touching, and able to positively influence those around them. The owners of less attractive or completely ugly faces with only visual contact are denied these positive qualities, they are classified as people who are dissatisfied, arrogant, stupid or tired of life.
Thus, the social consequences of physical attractiveness are enormous. Life is easier for beautiful people. They definitely have advantages in making contacts, looking for a job, in personal life, in everyday life, in general - everywhere.
Well, for those who are not lucky with natural attractiveness, plastic surgery will come to the rescue. Moreover, according to one of the researchers, Martin Grundl, the institutes of beauty and plastic surgery have already become interested in the results of the study.
The book acquaints the reader with modern ideas about sexual selection, its role in the formation of modern species of animals and humans. Sex and gender in human society are presented as a complex biosocial phenomenon. The differences between the male and female bodies, the peculiarities of physiology and genetics, mental activity and strategies of sexual and parental behavior are considered. The book shows the specificity of male and female behavior in traditional societies, demonstrates the relationship between reproductive success and social status and economic well-being. The reasons for the persistence of a number of gender stereotypes in modern society are discussed. Described in detail about the universal and culturally specific ideals of beauty and the methods of their research.
The book is intended for anthropologists, psychologists, sociologists, historians, political scientists, social workers, a wide range of readers interested in issues of relationships between the sexes.
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The analysis carried out by ethologists in the late 90s clearly demonstrated that there are criteria of beauty that are universal for any culture - European, Asian, African. First of all, the face must be clean, free of acne, scars and blemishes. Often in the literature you can find the idea that pallor is an attractive feature for women. Ethological studies carried out by the Austrian scientist B. Fink and co-authors, in which a computer analysis was used of the female faces most preferred by the respondents, refute this point of view: men seem to be the most attractive faces with a predominance of pinkish color.
Today, women’s faces are considered beautiful, with a soft oval, large expressive almond-shaped eyes, undeveloped eyebrows, elongated eyebrows, high cheekbones, a small triangular and narrow lower jaw, a non-protruding chin, a medium-wide mouth, plump lips, a small nose, a small height of the lower parts of the face. All these signs are important, and they should not be present separately, but in a complex. Such faces can be observed among beauty queens who have received the titles "Miss World" or "Miss Universe" in recent years. Representatives of different continents alternately become the most beautiful women of the Alanets. They have different skin colors and their faces bear traits of belonging to particular racial types, but they all meet the standard of female beauty described above.
Male beauty is a protruding lower jaw (the famous "strong-willed chin"), prominent cheekbones. The nose can be large or small, it doesn't matter. Low eyebrows and well-developed superciliary arches. Somewhat unexpectedly, for a man, big eyes are not a positive sign, but rather a neutral or negative sign. The attractiveness of the male face, as well as the attractiveness of the female, is an objective marker of reproductive qualities. Recent studies by K. Soler et al. Indicate a direct connection between a woman's perception of a man's face as attractive and the quality of a man's sperm.
There is also a certain set of signs, seemingly completely imperceptible. However, they do affect the subconscious choice of a partner. We are talking about the so-called fluctuating asymmetry. To measure it, a special portrait of a person is made, and points are applied on the photo image entered into the computer on the left and right half of the face (for example, they mark the outer and inner corner of the eye, the base of the ear, the base of the wings of the nose, the corners of the mouth, extreme points on the cheekbones, angles of the lower jaw, etc.). A vertical line is drawn in the center of the face - through the middle of the forehead, in the center of the nose and chin. Next, carefully measure the distances from this center line to identical points on the right and left, and then calculate the differences in the distances on the right and left sides. At the next stage, the general index of fluctuating asymmetry of the face is calculated. The same is done with the parameters of the body.
Distinguish between directional and non-directional asymmetry. The right side of a person's face is always slightly larger, this is a normal asymmetry, as evidenced by anthropologists. But if the asymmetry seems to move from one side to the other according to different signs: the left eye is slightly larger than the right, at the same time the right half of the nose is larger than the left, this gives a high rate of fluctuating asymmetry. And a face with this kind of indicators seems less attractive.
However, full lips and a smooth oval of the face as factors of female attractiveness are not at all trifling quirks of male taste. It is these traits that are associated with a woman's youth and a high concentration of estrogen in her body. The latter play a leading role in the successful conception and bearing of the fetus.
However, high testosterone levels do not make men more attractive to women than more feminine types when it comes to a long-term partner. The same experiment was conducted in Europe, China and Japan. The respondents were offered three options for a woman's and a man's portrait: averaged, feminized and masculinized. The most "cute" turned out to be the feminized, feminine version of both female and male faces. At first, this caused bewilderment, but then a hypothesis appeared, which was confirmed by the facts - women in modern societies prefer good fathers, and good fathers will always have a slight femininity in appearance. The more masculine types - the real macho ones - may carry good genes, but less often they turn out to be faithful husbands and good fathers.
Childhood traits
Large eyes, a rounded convex forehead, a round head, a small nose and a small, slightly protruding chin, clear, smooth skin - all these characteristics are typical for the appearance of a child. This appearance was called in ethology "children's scheme" (Fig. 10.4). At one time, K. Lorenz showed that an individual who possesses the indicated characteristics evokes warm feelings in observers and a desire to provide help and care. A child's round head and smooth face serve as pacifying signals and suppress the aggressive intentions of others. In addition, these same signals indicate the safety of a given individual for others. Parents who react with the utmost concern to the "childish scheme" may have left more surviving and healthy offspring than their counterparts who remain indifferent to these signals.
Childhood appearance in adults is associated with such psychological characteristics as openness, compliance, sincerity. It has also been found that adult men and women with childlike features evoke romantic feelings in Caucasian women and men. Perhaps clean-shaven male faces are perceived by women as more peaceful and have a pacifying effect on them.
Rice. 10.4. Children's scheme
Signs of puberty
The intense secretion of sex hormones during puberty leads to the maturation of the face and body. As it matures, the childish appearance gradually disappears. In men, the jaw becomes larger and wider, the nose lengthens, the brows develop, and facial hair appears. Mature traits are indicative of strength, dominance, status, and competence. Cross-cultural evidence suggests that a large mandible is a universal indicator of dominance.
Facial hair growth is a biological marker of male maturity. Facial hair and scalp hair are chemically different and appear to serve different purposes. It is assumed that the presence of facial hair in men is indicative of their aggressiveness and potential reproductive ability. Like the other two characteristics, facial hair growth is stimulated by the secretion of testosterone during puberty. The intensity of beard growth depends on the level of androgen secretion in a given individual.
R. Fox and a number of authors associate reproductive success in males in hominin communities with rank in the social hierarchy. In this context, facial hair could have evolved as a signal of threat and domination, since it visually enlarges the lower part of the face (primarily the lower jaw). This connection with the lower jaw is not accidental, because evolutionarily the jaw is associated with teeth as a weapon. In an adult man, the chin protrudes strongly forward, while in a child it is extremely poorly developed.
The presence of facial hair on a man has a significant impact on his social perception by others. A male face overgrown with hair gets higher marks from the respondents on the following points: physical strength, sexual potency, domination, courage. On the scale of negative values associated with masculinity, men with facial hair also received higher ratings for the following indicators: aggressiveness, imbalance, lack of kindness, uncleanliness. Among other things, clean-shaven faces were perceived as younger.
In connection with the discussion of the attractiveness of male faces with a beard and mustache, on the one hand, and clean-shaven faces, on the other, the results of many years of research by N. Barber are interesting. According to this author, there is a positive stereotype of a bearded male face in European culture. Men with beards and mustaches are viewed by women as more valuable potential spouses. They are credited with the best reproductive qualities and the level of health in general. It is also assumed that bearded men are better able to provide for wives and children.
J. Reed and E. Blank analyzed the results of preliminary selection of frames from photographs made in 188 different American firms (ages from 19 to 70 years), and were surprised to find a tendency to give preference to men with facial hair. Such individuals were perceived by managers to be more physically and socially attractive and rated as more competent, whole, and reliable. The age and gender of managers did not significantly influence the choice of personnel, with the exception that female managers rated bearded men as more competent.
N. Barber points out a certain relationship between the situation in the market for grooms and the fashion for men's beards and mustaches. If the most favorable conditions for brides are formed, that is, there are many free men of marriageable age, then women begin to give preference to men with facial hair. The mustache turned out to be the most significant in the list; a reliably positive relationship was also noted for the presence of a beard. But the presence of sideburns did not play any role in assessing the attractiveness of a man's appearance.
A very curious connection has been found between the fashion for the length of women's dresses and the situation in the market for grooms. Favorable conditions for women were significantly correlated with long skirts and more modest behavior in women; the more intense competition for suitors became, the more likely short skirts were fashionable. It is curious that earlier another researcher showed that the fashion for long skirts fluctuates in sync with the fashion for men's mustaches and beards.
Psychologists and ethologists have repeatedly noted that women are better than men able to read a partner's face and distinguish between truth and deception. This state of affairs will not seem accidental if we remember that for a woman the right choice of a partner is associated with energy costs, which she must in the long term invest in the offspring. In this regard, a clean-shaven face is ideal conditions for obtaining truthful information. It is assumed that in conditions of a significant excess of free men, more confident women will prefer men with facial hair as marriage partners (because they are not afraid of their betrayal), and less confident women will prefer clean-shaven ones. Beard and mustache fashions seem to be more popular in countries where marriages are more stable, gender ratios are bias toward males, and adultery is rare.
Signs of aging
Gray hair and bald patches are indicative of aging, have a genetic basis and can be adaptive to their wearers. Nonsense? Not at all.
Baldness is a common characteristic common among men and is associated with the effects of androgens, genetic factors and age. A certain proportion of bald men are found in all human cultures. Previously, it was believed that in the selection process, the receding hairline on the head became a signal of threat, dominance and high age status, and the reddening of the bald head serves as a noticeable external signal of anger.
However, empirical evidence has not supported this hypothesis. Rather, it can be assumed that the bald head evolved as a signal of maturity and social maturity. Age is an important predictor of the likelihood of baldness. At the same time, aggression and sexual potency in men decrease with age, and the desire to show parental care increases. In the process of maturation, the appearance of a man changes from dominant-aggressive to dominant-caring. Such transformations are adaptive, since they reduce competition between men within a group by dividing functions between the younger (warriors, hunters) and the elders (teachers, custodians of information).
Thus, a bald head acts as a signal of a higher social status and complaisance. At the same time, the same signal reduces the physical attractiveness of the wearer. Is it by chance, in light of all the above, that in modern Western society it has become fashionable for men to shave their heads? Moreover, this fashion is primarily common among young men.
Shaving as a cultural tradition
In accordance with the multiple fitness model, culture shapes the fashion for shaving and cutting in such a way that the appearance of a man reflects as much as possible adaptation to local environmental conditions. It has been noticed that a beard and mustache are often worn in those places where the likelihood of skin defects on the face is high due to the abundance of infectious skin diseases and insect vectors.
Facial hair on a man can signal aggressiveness regardless of culture and historical period, but it is specific cultural norms that determine the social desirability of a given characteristic (fearless and valiant warriors) or its undesirability (a dangerous villain). In cultures where the development of facial hair is very weak or absent, even a small amount of hair is associated with evil, disgust and associations with animal life (for example, in Japan).
In the course of our research on the formation of gender stereotypes in children (Russians and Kalmyks), junior schoolchildren were asked to draw a woman and a man. Boys and girls almost never depicted a man with a beard and a mustache was rarely depicted. When the boys were asked to paint their imaginary portrait as an adult, none of them drew a beard, and only a few Russian boys adorned themselves with small mustaches.
Skin texture and color
Ethnographic literature often mentions the preference for lighter skin, especially in women. In modern multiethnic societies, the ideals of lighter skin, according to some researchers, are associated with the political situation: the ruling strata of society are more affluent are more often fair-skinned, and representatives of the poor are more often dark-skinned. However, while the presence of racial hierarchy may stimulate a preference for fair skin, there is various historical evidence that racism alone cannot explain this. Thus, in the Roman Empire, as well as in the Arab world, the presence of a large number of slaves-northerners did not make fair-skinned women less attractive. In most unstratified societies, female beauty perceptions associated with lighter skin than the population average can also be found. This characteristic is inherently universal, while other cross-cultural standards of beauty (body proportions, face shape in general and nose in particular, fullness) vary dramatically. Men's beauty standards in terms of skin color, as opposed to women's, also vary.
Why is there such a double standard? According to Jones, it is likely that skin color in women, like the fullness of the lips or the ratio of the waist to the hips, is associated with the secretion of estrogen. Estrogens suppress the production of melanin in the body. As a result, the girl brightens as she grows, and then the opposite picture is observed with age: her skin gradually darkens. For this reason, the preference for lighter-skinned partners, which is so pronounced in men, may be a genetic adaptation.
Questions and tasks.
1. What is art in the wide and narrow sense of the word? If you have art albums at home, what understanding - broad or narrow - do they refer to?
Art in a broad sense is artistic creation as a whole: literature, architecture, sculpture, painting, graphics, arts and crafts, music, dance, theater, cinema and other types of human activity, united as artistic forms of mastering the world.
Art in the narrow sense is only fine art.
Album with paintings by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (Italian painter, 1571 - 1610) and his followers. This album will be related to art in a narrow sense, since it contains works of fine art. But it can also be attributed to art in a broad sense, since this album is related to painting.
2. * Why art should be brought closer together, but not completely identified with artistic culture. What are their similarities and distinctive features?
We will bring art closer, but not completely identify with artistic culture. They have similarities and differences. The similarity lies in the fact that art and artistic culture is a sphere of figurative and expressive attitude to the environment, a way of aesthetic expression of one's inner state, in which the moment of form even comes to the fore in comparison with the content of ideas and feelings. The main thing in art is the aesthetic expression of the surrounding world and its highly professional, masterful display in stone, theatrical production, on canvas, etc.
The difference is as follows. Art is just the pinnacle of artistic culture. The latter includes not only professional works of real artistic value, but also works of amateurs, amateurs, which are of value only for themselves. The main criterion for artistic culture is a figurative reflection of reality, feelings and thoughts of people. It can be perfect or imperfect. Art belongs only to that part of artistic culture that is made at a high level and has artistic value for other people.
Thus, the criterion for distinguishing art culture is subject, and art is a qualification criterion. The artistic culture includes not only the results of the activities of professionals, but also the entire huge infrastructure that contributes to them (workshops of artists, halls and art galleries, conservatories and philharmonic societies, specialized magazines, newspapers, printed materials, television channels, publishing houses, departments and laboratories of universities, specialized schools and gymnasiums, lyceums, associations of artists, painters, writers and much more.).
Thus, the concept of artistic culture is broader than art. The latter includes only professional activities and trained people in the field. Art is only or predominantly an elite culture; artistic culture includes folk and elite culture.
3. What is the difference between fine arts and artistic creation? What is amateur art?
Fine arts - a section of the plastic arts that combines painting, sculpture and graphics. Visual arts reflect reality in visual, visually perceived images.
The concept of artistic creativity is broader. It includes literature, architecture, sculpture, painting, graphics, arts and crafts, music, dance, theater, cinema and other types of human activity, combined as artistic and imaginative forms of world exploration. Artistic creativity is synonymous with the concept of "artistic culture".
Their difference lies in the fact that fine art is a type of artistic creation.
Amateur art is one of the forms of folk art. It includes, among other things, the creation and performance of works of art by the efforts of amateur performers individually (singers, readers, musicians, dancers, acrobats) or collectively (circles, studios, folk theaters).
4. Explain what art culture is and what is involved in it. Where does literature, music, theater go?
Artistic culture is the totality of all types of artistic activity - verbal, musical, theatrical, visual, etc., including the product and process of this activity: creation, storage, distribution, perception, evaluation, study of works of art, as well as the education of artists, upbringing critics, art critics, the public.
Literature, music, theater are elements of artistic culture.
5. Describe the main subjects of artistic culture.
Subjects of artistic culture are divided into those who:
Creates new works and ideas;
Distributes new works and ideas on a non-commercial basis;
Finances new works and ideas;
Introduces new works and ideas;
Teaches new works and ideas;
Engaged in the massive replication of new works and ideas;
Sells new works and ideas on a commercial basis and thus makes a profit;
Evaluates and examines new works and ideas;
Exercises state control and management over the creation and dissemination of new works and ideas;
Reads, looks and listens to new works and ideas;
Becomes a fan, a supporter of new works and ideas.
6. * What role do Beauty, Goodness, Truth play in culture?
Truth, Beauty, Goodness are three pillars on which the spiritual sphere of society rests. Whatever we take from this sphere - a scientific theory, a pedagogical method or a religious teaching - they will certainly correspond to one degree or another to the three main principles of the spiritual. In scientific theory, Truth comes to the fore, in religious teaching - Good, in the field of education - a little bit of both. In works of art, Beauty comes to the fore.
7. Can painting, sculpture and architecture be classified as fine arts? What is your example of the fine arts?
Yes, painting, sculpture and architecture can be classified as fine arts because they meet the criteria of Truth, Goodness, Beauty.
Literature, theater, dance are examples of the fine arts.
?Problem. Think about the problem - are there general criteria for beauty?
Beauty is an aesthetic (non-utilitarian, non-practical) category denoting perfection, a harmonious combination of aspects of an object, in which the latter causes aesthetic pleasure in the observer.
There are no general criteria for beauty. In different periods of time, beauty was understood in different ways: “In the variety of changes, beauty remains forever new” (Dionysius of Halicarnassus). Even within the same era, ideas about beauty differed from person to person. Criteria for beauty were more or less general in individual societies.
For example, in Ancient Greece there was a cult of athletic physique; among the Maya Indians, a body painted with tattoos was considered beautiful. In ancient China, the fragility and diminutiveness of a woman was valued. At the age of five, the girl's legs were tightly bandaged, and they stopped growing. According to the canons of beauty, women whitened their faces, extended eyelashes, and painted thin lines instead of shaved eyebrows. In Ancient Egypt grace was valued in women. The woman had to be slim. The owner of narrow hips and small breasts was considered beautiful. Of all the colors, the Egyptians preferred emerald. The girl with green eyes was considered the most beautiful. Arrows in front of our eyes were drawn with green paint. Exactly the same beauty today in African countries, India, Japan, the United States will be different.
We should not forget about the beauty of the soul. The beauty of the flesh has a limit; spiritual beauty is infinite.
You can hear about the beauty of music, the beauty of the building, the beauty of the city, the beauty of the park, the beauty of the painting, the beauty of the vase. In the East, in the 11th century, at the court of some rulers, it was popular to sing the beauty of ordinary things in poetry. It could be cutlery, weapons, shoes, clothes, or whatever.
However, the concept of beauty in different people will depend on their preferences, formed in them in the process of socialization. What is beautiful for one may be ugly for another.
Workshop. Explain why only works of elite visual culture can be classified as art.
Elite, or high, culture is created by a privileged part of society or by its order by professional creators. Her motto is "art for art." In any community, only a trained minority had a deep understanding of art. High culture, for example the painting of the Spanish artist P. Picasso or the music of the Austrian composer A. Schoenberg, is difficult for an unprepared person to understand (for example, in contrast to graffiti). As a rule, it is decades ahead of the level of perception of an average educated person.
There are not only pragmatic but also aesthetic criteria for evaluating scientific theories ...
In other words, a scientific theory can be approached not only as a tool for explaining natural phenomena, but also as a work of art. This idea is unlikely to surprise any of the scientists - each of them during his work more than once came across such arguments, and sometimes he himself took part in them. On the other hand, the fact that scientists are not hopeless practitioners and rationalists as they are usually portrayed, but the same, like everyone else, connoisseurs of beauty and grace, may even shock the general public.
There are many examples of how this criterion works in science. Thus, the general theory of relativity, thanks to its elegance, was almost immediately accepted by scientists, although it took decades to experimentally confirm its predictions. This example shows - I want to emphasize this especially - that although beauty and grace can bend scientists in favor of one theory or another, they still cannot reverse experimental data. If the theory of relativity did not find experimental confirmation, it would be changed or rejected, despite all its beauty. Thus, the criterion of beauty can raise or lower the weight of a theory, but is not in itself a decisive factor in the acceptance of this theory.
However, the criterion of beauty is a rather vague and subjective thing. It is not as clearly defined as other concepts that we use in this book. For example, there is no clear interpretation of the word "beauty" in the context of scientific theories. Nevertheless, there are some generally accepted provisions. For example, the more universal a theory is, the more likely it is to be recognized as beautiful. The less random and hastily cobbled together data used to construct a theory, the less likely it is that it will be considered simply tailored to a specific set of facts, and the more elegant the theory will seem. And, of course, its simplicity plays an important role in the recognition of the theory as elegant ( cm. Occam's razor). One must think that at least in relation to these three provisions, there is a certain unanimity among scientists.
Naturally, the question arises: is it possible to formulate a criterion of scientific beauty - more objective than the one that we use, say, in painting or in music? When I read other people's arguments about scientific beauty, I often find myself disagreeing with the author in his assessment of a particular scientific idea. For example, some find the idea of a flat universe - where spacetime looks like a grid on the surface of a table - beautiful. To me, this idea seems neither beautiful nor ugly. Others think that a universe in which the cosmological constant causes acceleration is beautiful, but my friend Rocky Kolb, a renowned astrophysicist, finds such a universe "unspeakably ugly." In science, as in art, everyone has their own idea of beauty.
