General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: "I've started telling my daughters I'm beautiful" [View all]antigone382
(3,682 posts)There are very few beauty ideals that are constant across all cultures, such as clear skin and general symmetry. Ideal skin tone, body mass, and waist-to-hips-to-chest ratios have varied considerably over time, across cultures, and among individuals. There are specific ideals that are even more uniquely tied to culture, such as hair length, and those that are tied to extreme body modification within cultures, including piercings, tattoos, "lotus feet" achieved by foot binding, necks artificially lengthened by metal rings, and even female genital cutting. Attractiveness is inextricably bound up with culture, and anyone who claims that it is easy or clear cut to determine where culture stops and biology begins is profoundly ignorant of the real findings of cultural and physical anthropology, sociobiology, and psychology.