Blurring the line between health & beauty

easyguy · 10-31-2007, 11:55 PM

In society today, there is a dominant mental construct that people are led to believe as being unconditionally true. I am talking about the difference between health and beauty.

You can be healthy and not be beautiful or be beautiful and be unhealthy. They are not mutually exclusive. But what is beauty? It is an artificial concept and has a different meaning in different cultures. Our bodily functions become damaged, leading to our death if we take poor care of ourselves physically. It is not some kind of ideal, it is just a common sense way to exist. If the appropriate habits are not cultivated, consequences will arise, some quicker than others.

I am not saying that we should all dress in paper bags and walk around barefoot every day in public, but I think it is important to increase our awareness of the difference between desiring health and desiring beauty. It is so easy to become delusioned. Do not judge either side, just let each side be what it is. You will find that the less you get caught by "beauty", the more content you will be. Be observent of it, not sucked into it as being reality. It isn't.

Censored · 11-01-2007, 12:20 AM

it's weird, but i have always desired healthy as i see it as beauty, not the other way round. There is something inherently sexy and beautiful about a "healthy" person.

Even weirder is that i am a junk food eating, pack a day smoking, lay about - although i don't look like it

mintblossom · 11-01-2007, 01:02 AM

what if i desire both?

CaptainPlanet · 11-01-2007, 01:23 AM

Beauty generally refers to perfections in the ratios of ones facial features and bodily proportions to a determined standard that has been identified as the standard for beauty. These are not open to individual perception.

Then there is health. Health is exactly that, looking after yourself being fit well adjusted ect. You can be healthy but not have good ratios and you won't be as attractive. You can do something about your health

The next is personal preference. People might prefer a dark, thoughtful brunette. Or a career minded red headed girl. Who we like is variable because of unique charecteristics of our personality based on our experiences. Such is very obvious in regards to people varying attitudes to things almost always based on their background.

This defines the "personality" that people claim to be most important. These days we have very good nutrition and consequently a high degree of health and very decent genetics, so often there is a plethora of people with the right dimensions to define beauty. So much so that we can become slaves to fashion so that one might think that trends define beauty, infact they define preference. With enough solid candidates preference can be the defining element.

You may or may not be able to change some parts but no others parts of your personality.

There is an overlap of health and beauty but I would not a say there is at all a blurred line.

poloplayer · 11-01-2007, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Beauty generally refers to perfections in the ratios of ones facial features and bodily proportions to a determined standard that has been identified as the standard for beauty. These are not open to individual perception.

Good point. Da Vinci completely analyzed the human body - face, hair, neck, limbs, etc., and devised mathematical formulas to construct symmetry, or beauty. This is the scientific standard.

Zorba · 11-01-2007, 05:35 PM

Some would say that what we perceive as beauty is actually an indicator of reproductive health. Studies have shown that woman with the .7 hip to waist ratio which is considered beautiful also have better reproductive health than women who don't. In women a small jaw round face big eyes all show the evidence of oestregens at work. In men large jaws, muscle development, facial hair etc all show the action of testosterone. Symmetry in body and face is also considered beautiful, which shows healthy development both in utero and after. Clear skin, good teeth, lustrous hair, soft skin, strong defined muscles are all outward indicators of health. So funny enough is averageness. the more average a face is with regular features the more beautiful it's considered. If you try to imagine the ugliest human you will see it shows the oppositie of all of the above. Quasimodo(which even means almost formed/fashioned/like a man) shows all those traits, twisted, deformed irregular and not a healthy male.

Of course as humans we can see beauty in much more than that, but those things are underlying a lot of what we consider beautiful on the basic animal scale.

10-31-2007, 11:55 PM	#1
easyguy Offline Platinum Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Gender: Male Age: 23 Posts: 1,883	Blurring the line between health & beauty In society today, there is a dominant mental construct that people are led to believe as being unconditionally true. I am talking about the difference between health and beauty. You can be healthy and not be beautiful or be beautiful and be unhealthy. They are not mutually exclusive. But what is beauty? It is an artificial concept and has a different meaning in different cultures. Our bodily functions become damaged, leading to our death if we take poor care of ourselves physically. It is not some kind of ideal, it is just a common sense way to exist. If the appropriate habits are not cultivated, consequences will arise, some quicker than others. I am not saying that we should all dress in paper bags and walk around barefoot every day in public, but I think it is important to increase our awareness of the difference between desiring health and desiring beauty. It is so easy to become delusioned. Do not judge either side, just let each side be what it is. You will find that the less you get caught by "beauty", the more content you will be. Be observent of it, not sucked into it as being reality. It isn't.

11-01-2007, 12:20 AM	#2
Censored Offline Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Floating in a dirty puddle called bliss. Gender: Male Age: 34 Posts: 1,326	it's weird, but i have always desired healthy as i see it as beauty, not the other way round. There is something inherently sexy and beautiful about a "healthy" person. Even weirder is that i am a junk food eating, pack a day smoking, lay about - although i don't look like it

11-01-2007, 01:02 AM	#3
mintblossom Offline Gold Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 914	what if i desire both?

11-01-2007, 01:23 AM	#4
CaptainPlanet Offline Platinum Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Australia Gender: Male Age: 26 Posts: 4,259	Beauty generally refers to perfections in the ratios of ones facial features and bodily proportions to a determined standard that has been identified as the standard for beauty. These are not open to individual perception. Then there is health. Health is exactly that, looking after yourself being fit well adjusted ect. You can be healthy but not have good ratios and you won't be as attractive. You can do something about your health The next is personal preference. People might prefer a dark, thoughtful brunette. Or a career minded red headed girl. Who we like is variable because of unique charecteristics of our personality based on our experiences. Such is very obvious in regards to people varying attitudes to things almost always based on their background. This defines the "personality" that people claim to be most important. These days we have very good nutrition and consequently a high degree of health and very decent genetics, so often there is a plethora of people with the right dimensions to define beauty. So much so that we can become slaves to fashion so that one might think that trends define beauty, infact they define preference. With enough solid candidates preference can be the defining element. You may or may not be able to change some parts but no others parts of your personality. There is an overlap of health and beauty but I would not a say there is at all a blurred line.

11-01-2007, 05:35 PM	#6
Zorba Offline Gold Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Somewhere else Gender: Male Posts: 715	Some would say that what we perceive as beauty is actually an indicator of reproductive health. Studies have shown that woman with the .7 hip to waist ratio which is considered beautiful also have better reproductive health than women who don't. In women a small jaw round face big eyes all show the evidence of oestregens at work. In men large jaws, muscle development, facial hair etc all show the action of testosterone. Symmetry in body and face is also considered beautiful, which shows healthy development both in utero and after. Clear skin, good teeth, lustrous hair, soft skin, strong defined muscles are all outward indicators of health. So funny enough is averageness. the more average a face is with regular features the more beautiful it's considered. If you try to imagine the ugliest human you will see it shows the oppositie of all of the above. Quasimodo(which even means almost formed/fashioned/like a man) shows all those traits, twisted, deformed irregular and not a healthy male. Of course as humans we can see beauty in much more than that, but those things are underlying a lot of what we consider beautiful on the basic animal scale.