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?

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.

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 widelyattri

buted 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 situations likely to give enhan

ced survival of the perceiving human's genes. "

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.