Objective standards of attractiveness (female): symmetry, WHR of at least 0.7, healthy BMI, youth.

Objective standards of attractiveness (male): symmetry, WSR of about 0.5, healthy BMI, status/wealth.

Personally, I don't think I'm very attractive (at least facially), but I typically get treated as though I am.  I am very confident in my intelligence, so maybe that's what people see.  Or maybe they're going based on my body. 

Almost every attractive person lives in the body of an unattractive person at some point: it's call aging.

@ChaplainDavid@xanga - Why would you repent for other peoples' decisions?  And besides, non-believers, susceptible to this same logical fallacy

@bittersunday@xanga - While what you're saying is true in general, I don't think it's fair to classify everyone by those standards.  Personally, the only aspects of outer appearance that cause me to form a biased judgment about someone are the things they can change: posture, clothing, gait, etc.  There are extremely few people who I have ever viewed as physically attractive and extremely few people who I have ever viewed as physically unattractive before I got to know them.

Example: when I first met my current boyfriend, I didn't look twice at him.  I didn't think he was attractive at all.  Nearly two years later, we finally started talking (just a friendship), and as I got to know him, he looked better and better.

Example: when I first met most of the "popular" girls in high school, I had no opinion on their physical attractiveness.  After a couple of months of getting to know them, I found most of them physically hideous.

When I say very few, I mean it.  Something like .1% of the population falls into either category.

And my concept of beauty is nowhere near the modern American one.  The ideal woman I would want to be physically?  Tiny waist, generous hips/breasts, pale skin, long hair, full lips, large eyes.  Surely, not everyone can be this, but that's what I find most attractive.

@Nikolais_apprentice@xanga - Exactly.  Thank you!  And people also consider attractive people to be more intelligent.

It's not just our culture that glorifies physical beauty. It's been here for centuries. What is unique about this day in age, I think, is our fixation on being thin. Take a look at the statue of Aphrodite - the Greek goddess of love and beauty. She is what (we would now call) an "average" sized woman, not "thin" by Hollywood's standards at all. And yet, she's the goddess of beauty! Gorgeous and seductive... but she would never be able to get on the cover of Vogue today. Oh no.

My community is no different. Whoever has the cutest outfit or the prettiest hair or the most flawless skin are the ones that are drowned in attention. Though it's not as extreme, this goes for the men as well. Whoever is more muscular or more suave gets ahead.

Now, don't get me wrong - it's nice to take care of yourself and look your best. It's proven to elevate your self esteem and lessen depression (even clinical depression). However, society has gone overboard.

And to add, I, still to this day, do not think I am attractive. Like it's been said above, this can be attributed to my father never, ever telling me that I was pretty. My mother rarely did either... Until, that is, I started asking her if I was or not as I got older. Now, people tell me that I am very pretty, and yet, like I said, I just don't see it. So in response to some attractive people not understanding why they are flattered with attention or more companions of the opposite sex... well right there is a possibility.

I was always told that God thinks I'm beautiful, and I know that he does. Though it doesn't always work, sometimes just looking at yourself in the mirror and repeating to yourself that you are beautiful in the eyes of your Creator... can make you feel just the tiniest bit prettier.

Peace&love,
Brooke

Repenting for other's sins is a Biblical principal. Look at how Daniel prayed. Goodness, if someone is rejecting Christ because they are not welcomed into the Kingdom due to a false perception, you will see me on my knees, to be sure. How far did Jesus have to go to reach me?

@mslisachristine - Thank you for your comment and for your suggestion.  I don't watch TV hardly at all, but mainly because I find most of what is on there incredibly trite.

Unfortunately, even if you cut out stimuli you cannot cut out the own nasty inner voices in your head that tell you you're ugly, fat, worthless, etc.  At least, that's how it is for me.  I find those voices to be more crippling to my health than any trashy magazine or TV programme.

I totally agree about beauty affecting everything. Unfortunately.

The movie Shallow Hal kind of deals with this subject.

The passage describes the Lord's Servant, who is debated to be either Israel or an individual. Either way, the epitome of the Lord's Servant was Jesus, so He is fulfilled through that passage and (gasp) is the "ugly duckling."

I think we're in danger of taking things to the other extreme.  People who meet standards of beauty can easily become targets of hate, you know.  I consider myself an attractive person, and I'm unapologetic about it.  I don't put a qualifier on it--I'm not more attractive, you see, than anyone else.  But I'm afraid to even put that in text because I just assume that the people who are so fed up with unfair treatment are going to think that I use my appearance to my advantage.

It makes me wonder: have I been deceived, all these years, on why people treat me well?  I smile constantly at strangers--of all shapes, sizes, skin condition, facial symmetry, etc.  I hold doors for anyone behind me without even checking to see who it is.  I make eye contact.  In response, people treat me with warmth, kindness, say "Thank you," or strike up conversations.  I've always thought it was because I treated them with decency.  Are you telling me that it's not the smile itself, but the straight teeth?  It's not that I held the door, it's that a pretty girl showed consideration? 

One should not have to feel bad for not meeting standards of beauty in this world, and I think it's a huge step that Christians are starting to see this and address it.  But one should not be made to feel bad for things over which she has no control.  Like many commenters, I had an eating disorder for years; would you have me swing the other way and punish myself for being attractive?

What a shitty post!

Fascinating topic... I work a customer service job and in my "spare time" in between customers I actually think about these kinds of things a lot. One example: as I stood waiting one day I noticed an overweight guy walking by, and the first adjective that popped into my head to describe the way he looked was "sloppy." He was wearing a large t-shirt hanging rather far out over the front of him due to a large stomach and had khaki shorts on. However, I immediately wondered what a standard attractive guy would look like wearing the same clothes and took some time to imagine it. I came to the conclusion of course that I would not have considered describing the attractive guy in the same clothes as sloppy, which did not surprise me. It is true that people give an often unfair advantage to those who are attractive. Interesting to note however is that this message is internalized very young. I have read studies that even infants respond more positively to people who are more attractive, essentially those with more symmetrical faces and no parts that are out of proportion. Other studies have shown that attractive people with less skill are often offered higher salaries than their more skilled but less attractive counterparts. Still others showed that attractive people asking others for directions were often walked directly to the location they were seeking, while less attractive people received nothing more than brief mumbled directions most of the time. None of this surprised me when I read it, but the fact is I don't know that there is much to be done about it. Some animals even shun other animals that look different... wolves that are not similarly colored to other wolves are often not allowed to remain in packs and frequently become loners. Interesting stuff...

@Roadkill_Spatula@xanga - that's awesome - keep it up :)  they will undoubtedly appreciate it later, if they don't do so already.

I would like to go on the record to say that being attractive is not always that great.  Especially when you don't WANT the extra attention.  People assume that because you are not dog-faced,  you must be arrogant.  Or you are going to be unfriendly.  Or you must be confident, and you must WANT people to come talk to you and have guys nearly harass you....

Every situation has it's pros and cons.  Please don't assume that attractive people are secure in themselves, or that they take advantage of society.

i had a thing with this girl since last september, and she's def the definition of this confidence-jacked girls you're talking about. she's nice and all, but you can def tell she knows she's hot, you know?
thought-provoking entry, i liked it.

I think it was amusing that the ad next to this blog was for bologon? Or something like that? Where you rate people's attractiveness?