What is beauty?

WHAT TRULY INFLUENCES OUR IDEA OF BEAUTY

LAVANYA VASHIST
3B/34
22nd September, 2015

The notion of beauty is a complex one. It has been a subject of debate since the
emergence of the modern man. A question that often arises is what is beauty? Is it
something we find attractive or pleasant or is it something that is all together awe
inspiring. The ambiguity of this subject is that how do we consider something beautiful?
In other words is beauty something that assaults our senses and our psyche; all the while
addressing our inherited inherent sense from our ancestors?

THE FREE DICTIONERY DEFINES BEAUTY AS:

"Beauty is a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that
provides a perceptual experience of pleasure or satisfaction. Beauty is
studied as part of aesthetics, sociology, social,
psychology, and culture.An "ideal beauty" is an entity which is admired, or possesses
features widelyattributed to beauty in a particular culture, for perfection.
The experience of "beauty" often involves an interpretation of some entity as
being in balance and harmony with nature, which may lead to feelings of
attraction and emotional well-being. Because this can be a subjective
experience, it is often said that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder."
There is evidence that perceptions of beauty are evolutionarily determined,
that things,
aspects of people and landscapes considered beautiful aretypically found in situation
s likely to give enhanced survival of the perceiving human's genes. "

As we learned to speak and develop the arts, we began taking inspirations from the
environment around us. In a TED TALK by Richard Seymour, he says that humans have
inherited certain perceptions about beauty that have been passed from our early
ancestors. He takes the example of typical scenery in savannah that resembles green
pastures with water body in sight (a pleasing sight indicating survival and life). I
disagree; I think that a person's individuality or "psyche" decides what he/she finds
beautiful. We may have been passed down our perceptions from our ancestors but they

were more about survival in basic natural conditions. We no longer face that threat now
due to advancements in technology and infrastructure.
I think that our conscience or psyche is single handedly responsible for our likes and
dislikes. But the thing is that it changes with our fears and achievements. For example
some find the pictures of oceans and lakes beautiful, but for a person who had almost
drowned before may even find it discomforting. Similarly our perception of beauty is a
product of such instances and our response and the sentimental value to them. For
example a child who was gifted his first batman comic from his best friend might find a
first edition in mint condition beautiful.
Now that we have decided that our perception of beauty is the product of our psyche the
original question still stands. What is beauty?
There are various schools of thoughts as to what is beauty. Is it something that attracts
us towards it? If so is poisonous dart frogs from Amazon be considered beautiful or would
their deadliness might earn them the tag of ugly? But wasn't beauty all about survival?
And come on they are so petty. some say that beauty lies in ordinary imperfections and
comfort on the other hand some say that things that are awe inspiring and give you
goose bumps but everyone agrees that beauty is in a sketch of the sun drawn by a
person suffering from Xeroderma pigmentosum .in short sentimental value of an object
makes it beautiful be it a survivor of war. The inner strength and their courage reflects on
their which makes them admirable.
So what is beautiful?
This question can never have a pure white answer. According to me someone or
something beautiful is because of its composition and context. Beauty in itself is very
subjective and hence is considered as the highest form of honor/ compliment because of
its complexity.
But then what is ugly?
Ugly is an antonym of beauty so does that really mean that things that aren't beautiful
are ugly?
Ugliness is a property of a person or thing that is unpleasant to look upon and results in a
highly unfavorable evaluation. To be ugly
is to be aesthetically unattractive, repulsive, or offensive. Things that threatening to us,
and give off negativity are called ugly.
But For some people, ugliness is a central aspect of their persona. For example the
imperfection trend in the modeling world has become a worldwide phenomenon.
So then is ugly truly ugly?
The answer is that it is very difficult to brand someone or something as ugly or as
beautiful the in the end the innermost composition is the deciding phenomenon in the
matter.