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the problem of beauty
May. 13th, 2008 07:07 amIt is a nagging problem. I am an artist. I draw things, particularly women. It always seemed natural to me that of course those images should be of beautiful women. But why? Isn't it as important -- possibly even more important -- to draw serene, attractive pictures of unbeautiful subjects? Unattractive women are heavily discriminated against; far more so than unattractive men. Should I allow myself to become an accomplice in this discrimination? Being aware of it, shouldn't I do what I can to reverse it?
To be fair to myself I have tried, but it is very difficult because paradoxically it's easier to draw something that's unattractive than it is to portray beauty. That means that making a picture in which the character doesn't look attractive simply gives the impression that the artist is incapable. It is hard to capture beauty, so that becomes almost a yardstick by which an artist's ability is measured. Yes, there are artists who draw ugly and revel in it, and they are often considered talented at what they do, but I'm sure if they created exactly the same kind of pictures, but including stunningly beautiful characters within them those images would be hailed as by far their best work.
By definition, we are attracted to attractiveness. There seems to be a good evolutionary basis for seeing beauty. As we grow up we seem to average out the features we see in people, and that average largely becomes our ideal of beauty. I think it was in the early 19th Century that a Scottish (or was he English?) guy became interested in "the face of evil", so he resolved to average out a large number of photographs of prison inmates. He was surprised to find that this exercise resulted, not in the ultimate character of evil distilled down, but a very attractive and benign-looking face. It only takes a moment's thought to see why evolution would gear us to see beauty this way. It would help prevent us breeding with individuals who might damage the species. If someone is stricken by disease then their appearance can become flawed, or if they have a disfiguring accident then they might not be able to care for offspring effectively.
Is there anything wrong with discriminating in favor of beauty? Well, yes, if you are unattractive. Unfortunately, these things no longer apply to humans. We have long since outstripped such simple constraints upon our fittedness for survival. Our amazing brain is the most potent force for survival that we possess and doesn't correlate with physical appearance at all. By colluding with the instinct for physical attractiveness we work against ourselves, possibly even damaging our species' potential. But even worse, we damage our morality.
How could it affect our morality? Some years ago I was speaking to a friend who is one of the most beautiful women I've met. She is not stupid, though she is no intellectual star either; she would be the first to agree that she has merely an unremarkable mind. We were chatting about work and she was happily saying that she never had to try particularly hard for any job. Her appearance would nearly always cause her to be chosen over other job applicants. I'd always felt that this damaged both her and the other applicants. Some time back I heard another beautiful woman bemoaning the fact that constant focus on a child's beauty causes them to grow up with the belief that their worth is in their appearance, causing major problems when they age and their looks start to fade. In an interview, Gwyneth Paltrow told of how surprised she was at the frank rudeness of people when she spent time in public places disguised in her fat suit, researching for the movie "Shallow Hal". Sadly this dismissal is no news to those of us who don't look pretty.
We are all fond of saying that beauty is only skin deep, but we never seem to actually take it to heart. I understand this extremely well, both because I work very hard to capture beauty in images, and because I'm aware that physically unattractive myself. But I'm dismayed that even with the knowledge I have, I still have no control over the way my heart leaps and my knees turn to jelly when smiled at by a beautiful woman.
Beauty is a real problem.
To be fair to myself I have tried, but it is very difficult because paradoxically it's easier to draw something that's unattractive than it is to portray beauty. That means that making a picture in which the character doesn't look attractive simply gives the impression that the artist is incapable. It is hard to capture beauty, so that becomes almost a yardstick by which an artist's ability is measured. Yes, there are artists who draw ugly and revel in it, and they are often considered talented at what they do, but I'm sure if they created exactly the same kind of pictures, but including stunningly beautiful characters within them those images would be hailed as by far their best work.
By definition, we are attracted to attractiveness. There seems to be a good evolutionary basis for seeing beauty. As we grow up we seem to average out the features we see in people, and that average largely becomes our ideal of beauty. I think it was in the early 19th Century that a Scottish (or was he English?) guy became interested in "the face of evil", so he resolved to average out a large number of photographs of prison inmates. He was surprised to find that this exercise resulted, not in the ultimate character of evil distilled down, but a very attractive and benign-looking face. It only takes a moment's thought to see why evolution would gear us to see beauty this way. It would help prevent us breeding with individuals who might damage the species. If someone is stricken by disease then their appearance can become flawed, or if they have a disfiguring accident then they might not be able to care for offspring effectively.
Is there anything wrong with discriminating in favor of beauty? Well, yes, if you are unattractive. Unfortunately, these things no longer apply to humans. We have long since outstripped such simple constraints upon our fittedness for survival. Our amazing brain is the most potent force for survival that we possess and doesn't correlate with physical appearance at all. By colluding with the instinct for physical attractiveness we work against ourselves, possibly even damaging our species' potential. But even worse, we damage our morality.
How could it affect our morality? Some years ago I was speaking to a friend who is one of the most beautiful women I've met. She is not stupid, though she is no intellectual star either; she would be the first to agree that she has merely an unremarkable mind. We were chatting about work and she was happily saying that she never had to try particularly hard for any job. Her appearance would nearly always cause her to be chosen over other job applicants. I'd always felt that this damaged both her and the other applicants. Some time back I heard another beautiful woman bemoaning the fact that constant focus on a child's beauty causes them to grow up with the belief that their worth is in their appearance, causing major problems when they age and their looks start to fade. In an interview, Gwyneth Paltrow told of how surprised she was at the frank rudeness of people when she spent time in public places disguised in her fat suit, researching for the movie "Shallow Hal". Sadly this dismissal is no news to those of us who don't look pretty.
We are all fond of saying that beauty is only skin deep, but we never seem to actually take it to heart. I understand this extremely well, both because I work very hard to capture beauty in images, and because I'm aware that physically unattractive myself. But I'm dismayed that even with the knowledge I have, I still have no control over the way my heart leaps and my knees turn to jelly when smiled at by a beautiful woman.
Beauty is a real problem.