What is beauty?

[gregory]

An interesting read: http://www.thecrimson.com/fmarchives...article3A.html BTW, I am making a habit of posting articles that I find interesting on StyleForum. If many members find this practice of mine annoying, I will gladly refrain from doing so in the future.

 

[LA Guy]

All I can say is that I am thoroughly bored with the generic Harvard blonde. With their Seven or Citizens of Humanity jeans and pastel shirts/tanks. Of course, I was never really a preppy guy into preppy girls. And... undergraduates are by and large idiots. I know. I was one once, and I T.A.'d them for the longest time.

 

[Alias]

Very interesting.

Concerning the bit about Asians: I don't know if it's right to react towards the popularity of the WASP culture with such protectionism. It comes across as insecurity to me. I think what they can do is embrace it and shape it to suit their own needs and whims.

 

[imageWIS]

All I can say to that is: OY VEY.

You know people have the gall to criticize my multi-thousand dollar items (or tens of thousands in the case of a few choice horological acquisitions) but then the same people spend the same amount of money (or more) on unnecessary plastic surgery.

Now, I dress the way I do for me, because at 21 and living in Florida, 3-piece suits (or even simple casual sports coats for that matter) are definitely not a "˜sociable' dress item. Whereas people who opt for elective surgery are only doing it to fit into society, to conform to the standard set by a few magazine editors, fashion designers, and advertising executives. It's nice to see that the once honorable medical profession has been tarnished by it's new found methodology of selling beauty to anyone not lucky enough to win the "˜genetic lottery'; which indecently changes from time to time and one civilizations, nay one generations perspective of beauty can and often is different than the others.

You want Shakespeare? This should be more than sufficient:

"To thine own self be true"

Jon.

 

[Alias]

Not very many people hold to that idea here in Seoul, sadly. That double-eyelid thing is very, very popular. So is other, more dramatic, surgery. I'm currently undergoing an orthodontic procedure to narrow my jaw profile, and I visit the dentist and dermatologist weekly. This city is a land of appearances.

 

[gregory]

I found it so heart-breaking to hear the half-white, half-African American woman describe how she would be the last one picked up when she goes to bars with her white female friends.

 

[esquire.]

I'm having trobule picturing the eyelid thing with Asians. Could somebody post a picture of what they're talking about? I don't understand why that would be such a big deal unless its to open up the eyes.

As for influence of WASPs beauty ideal, I would say it has its limits. If you ever go to Asia, the women always carry umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun to make their skin whiter. However, the WASP ideal, is a woman who appears somewhat athletic and has a tan.

Was I the only person here who thought, yeah, that asian woman is more attractive than those other girls.

Gregory,
I read a book that you might find real interesting. Unfortunately, i cannot remember the title or the author. But, basically, it showed the underlying scientific reasons why we find certain features beautiful.

For example, they said that eyes are considered more attractive when you can tell if the person is interested in you. That's why in the middle ages, women used bella donna to widen their pupils which is an indicator of attraction. To carry it further, you could argue blue eyes are attractive because they reveal more than brown eyes how attracted you are to other people.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

Asian eyelid before/after surgery pics here ya go...

 

[imageWIS]

Asian eyelid before/after surgery pics

I never knew so many people suffered from clinical depression, but I guess I was wrong... Jon.

 

[montecristo#4]

Funny how these Harvard kids all just kind of assume they are the are the elite center of the universe. Give me a break.

Having attended Harvard, let me also add that the women there really on average aren't that attractive, regarless of race, color, or creed. For women, you're much better off looking at BU. Or even better, somewhere out of state.

 

[imageWIS]

Funny how these Harvard kids all just kind of assume they are the are the elite center of the universe. Give me a break.

Having attended Harvard, let me also add that the women there really on average aren't that attractive, regarless of race, color, or creed. For women, you're much better off looking at BU. Or even better, somewhere out of state.

Well, elitism at Harvard aside, I have seen girls at BU and some were quite appetizing whilst others were (for lack of a better term) bag-nasty. I think every school has its good and bad looking people (which of course is a personal perspective).

Jon.

 

[fopkid]

as a pretty recent harvard alum, i'll agree that the big irony of the fm article is that, a few outliers aside, harvard students are none too beautiful. and notwithstanding the gist of the article, many don't even try. for every harvard woman who puts in effort, there's one who's content to show up at class in pj bottoms or sweatpants.

 

[christian]

as a pretty recent harvard alum, i'll agree that the big irony of the fm article is that, a few outliers aside, harvard students are none too beautiful.  and notwithstanding the gist of the article, many don't even try.  for every harvard woman who puts in effort, there's one who's content to show up at class in pj bottoms or sweatpants.

Oh really. There had been a recent thread on askandy where they were talking about american trad. Among other things, they were saying how influential it is, with even the GAP trying to emulate the theme of american trad. According to them, today's college students still wear blazers, rep ties to football games and still dress up for class. I thought that my classmates and I must have been slumming, and maybe every other college student had been dressing better than us.

 

[LA Guy]

Oh really. There had been a recent thread on askandy where they were talking about american trad. Among other things, they were saying how influential it is, with even the GAP trying to emulate the theme of american trad. According to them, today's college students still wear blazers, rep ties to football games and still dress up for class. I thought that my classmates and I must have been slumming, and maybe every other college student had been dressing better than us.

I have never seen this. College student dress like that in GAP and J.Crew ads. There is definitely a preppy influence at Harvard and other NE schools right now, but the people on Ask Andy are otherwise just plain incorrect.

 

[johnapril]

Beauty is the imagination's favorite distraction