The Definition of Beauty

I struggle with listing things that are beautiful. I think that figuring out what I find beautiful would help me define the word, but the only thing that pops into my head is a blurry green landscape. My initial definition to beauty is much like the one given in the dictionary-- beauty is a quality of something that evokes emotion and pleasure. This attempt at a definition is much to vague, broad, general, and unhelpful. Using this definition would deem cotton candy, family vacations or cheddar Goldfish snacks (all things that evoke pleasure or make me happy) as beautiful.

Beauty IS in the eye of the beholder. Of course, humans have very similar ideas to what beauty is, but picking out THE most beautiful is always subjective. That being said, the definition of beauty, or the way the we feel when we see something beautiful, could very well be genetic. Men find women with certain waist to hip ratios more beautiful that other women because that ratio reflect a woman's fertility. Therefore, this attraction seems like a genetic disposition present in humans in order to come out ahead in the survival of the fittest, and to carry on the human race. People find symmetry in face of someone of the opposite sex to be more beautiful and attractive because it reflect health.

As mentioned in "Call of Beauty," this is also true with landscapes-- we find open green pastures to be beautiful because it means that no predators could be hiding in the open area, and maybe because green signifies life.

Still, it seems that some men find women who are physically very artificial (make-up, surgery) beautiful. I included the video of a woman being altered by make-up and Photoshop because it made me think about skewed perceptions of beauty.

YouTube Video: Altered Beauty

Maybe beauty has nothing to do with survival of the fittest. What affects young childrens perception of beauty? Is it based on parent's opinions, the 'pretty girl' character in TV shows, or is it inborn?

Right now, writing this blog post, I can feel myself slipping deeper into confusion about the definition of beauty. Every step I think I take in the right direction, I contradict myself and find more holes in my theory.

Beauty is something that causes pleasure or evokes emotion that you want to be next to, with, or present in. People would want to be next to a beautiful flower, with a beautiful person or in a beautiful part of nature. Beauty defines something you want. The antonyms of 'beauty', including repulsive, unappealing, unattractive and offensive, offer insight into what beauty really means. Beauty must attract. Beauty must cause pleasure or intrigue. Beauty must be felt.