Who Defines Beauty Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Who Defines Beauty - Research Paper Example According to Newman, goodness as the moral equation of beauty were also used by philosophers (1) while others described beauty according to the modern definition of the dictionary which expresses beauty as â€Å"qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit.† (Merriam-Webster). The contemporary understanding of beauty is subjective or that any standard of beauty must be relative (Vacker) and is largely related to the maxim â€Å"beauty is in the eye of the beholder†. It explains that a thing of beauty for a person may not simply appear as equally pleasing to another. Nature - Biological and EvolutionarySymmetry has been scientifically proven to be inherently attractive to the human eye (Feng). Biologists have long utilized symmetry - the extent to which a creature's right and left sides match - to gauge what is referred to as developmental stability (Cowley). The sense of attraction for symmetry is not only res erved for adults, infants were also found to demonstrate this trait as well. Infants have the innate ability to spend more time staring at pictures of symmetric individuals than they do at photos of asymmetric one (Feng). Scientists believe that preference for symmetry is linked with having a strong immune system. Thus, beauty is associated with more robust genes, increasing the chances that an individual’s offspring will survive (Feng). The idea and preference for beauty differs from culture to culture (Cowley). Aside from symmetry, males in western cultures.