Beauty perception (s/o of "Isn't she perfect")

puffin · 01-26-2007, 07:19 AM

Sarasara's thread about the woman she thought was perfect got me thinking. I thought that she was pretty perfect myself, maybe because I see some slight resemblances to her myself (very slight).

Then mayim posted a picture of someone she thinks is beautiful, and I noticed that mayim resembles this woman a bit as well. I think their faces are similar.

This happens all the time with my sisters and friends. We'll point out someone who we think is perfect and then we'll notice that, hey the pointer and the pointee look a lot alike. But usually the pointee is a more attractive version of the pointer. For example, I always thought Tiffani-Amber Thiessen was pretty. One day, I told my sister that I thought so, and she said "you look exactly like her." I of course said "no way," because I don't agree with her, but now looking back on it, we do share some facial features (round-heart shaped face, eyes, hair).

I just thought this was interesting. Maybe we admire other people's beauty similar to ours so we can aspire to look like that? Or we are just "used to" that certain type of beauty? Or we secretly think we ourselves are beautiful and find it in other people as beauty as well?

Any thoughts on this? I guess I just think it's an interesting issue to explore.

Munchy · 01-26-2007, 07:21 AM

I agree with you. I absolutely think that we pick out people that we perceive as "better versions of ourselves."

sarasara · 01-26-2007, 07:28 AM

I do find myself somewhat attracted to people who I think look like me, or some people feel resemble me.Yet I don't have any resemblance to the Lebanese singer on the she's perfect thread (except for my lips).

I know that before, I used to look at really gorgeous women and think "I want to look like that", so to stop myself fro trying to be s/thing I'm not, I made myself look at people who resembled me in some way. That's why I try to console myself and put nice pics of people who I look like (my avatar).

iris427 · 01-26-2007, 07:28 AM

I don't know. There are some women I think are beautiful who look more like me. But there are lots of women I think are beautiful that don't look anything like me.

SuZen · 01-26-2007, 08:21 AM

I think I have kind of boring looks. I tend to think people are attractive who look different from me.

j'adore · 01-26-2007, 08:30 AM

We've talked about this before, and I thinks its really interesting. And true in many cases.

redcelticcurls · 01-26-2007, 08:58 AM

That's a good point.

I preferred the larger singer to the thinner woman mayim posted. It may becuse I'm thick myself and see thick as more beautiful than thin or delicate.

I do notice that I am drawn to dark hair/light eyes a good bit when I think of beautiful women. But, I also feel drawn to pale curly redheads. I loved it when Nicole Kidman was one, and I don't find her nearly as beautiful now as a straight haired blonde. I find Lily Cole to be very pretty although she is a bit unconventional looking.

ShrekLover · 01-26-2007, 10:15 AM

I wonder if that is why in general I find brunettes more attractive than blondes, at least in the media. I also find the the brunettes without implants more attractive, such as Cindy Crawford, Sandra Bullock and a few others that don't come to mind right now. I am brunette and small busted, not that I think the women I named are small, but they are not hugely overblown as many with implants are.

love yourself first · 01-26-2007, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j'adore

We've talked about this before, and I thinks its really interesting. And true in many cases.

Definitely we have talked about it before, but that is true of many topics. Although I do find people who have a mixed, blended look to be very attractive, I admire a wide variety of female beauty, from Catherine Denueve to Gong Li to Iman. So, no, I don't think that we necessarily uphold as beauty standards "better" images of ourselves.

I did notice that Mayim's my space pal could be Mayim's cousin based on features and coloring. But, no offense, that woman is skeletal, even if naturally so. Mayim is the better looking of the two from the pictures I have seen, although skinny does photograph well. Skinny just doesn't look that healthy, especially after the gross celebrity and fashion model extremes we have all seen.

Munchy · 01-26-2007, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deeply curled

Quote:

Originally Posted by j'adore

We've talked about this before, and I thinks its really interesting. And true in many cases.

Definitely we have talked about it before, but that is true of many topics. Although I do find people who have a mixed, blended look to be very attractive, I admire a wide variety of female beauty, from Catherine Denueve to Gong Li to Iman. So, no, I don't think that we necessarily uphold as beauty standards "better" images of ourselves.

I don't think it happens all of the time, but I do think that is always a part of who we find attractive. Of course there are people who don't resemble us who we find attractive too.

internetchick · 01-26-2007, 10:29 AM

I think it is true in many cases. I don't think I look like any of the people I find to be beautiful.

Eilonwy · 01-26-2007, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deeply curled

Quote:

Originally Posted by j'adore

We've talked about this before, and I thinks its really interesting. And true in many cases.

Definitely we have talked about it before, but that is true of many topics. Although I do find people who have a mixed, blended look to be very attractive, I admire a wide variety of female beauty, from Catherine Denueve to Gong Li to Iman. So, no, I don't think that we necessarily uphold as beauty standards "better" images of ourselves.

ITA. I like it when someone, male or female, has a distinct "look." I don't think that generic = beauty/attractiveness. Plus, I can't think of a celebrity who would look like a "better" version of me (although I've seen regular women who do, and they make me jellis).

slinky1 · 01-26-2007, 11:29 AM

I've noticed that with some people. Or, people are drawn to people who look like their same-sex sibling.

Same with those people in hs who seemed to date people who resembled them so closely, it was frightening. Then, there are always those who choose someone *completely* opposite of themselves lookswise.

I don't know what the psychology is behind all of that. Maybe (in the first case), and like E said, most people don't want to BE someone else, but a better version of themselves. Even though I don't like the way I look, if I were to get plastic surgery to have my face completely rearranged, I don't think I could live with it. I'd rather be me, just better...because "me" is what I'm used to.

Just because I don't want to BE someone else, that doesn't mean that I can't find all kinds of people attractive.

wild_sasparilla · 01-26-2007, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deeply curled

Quote:

Originally Posted by j'adore

We've talked about this before, and I thinks its really interesting. And true in many cases.

Definitely we have talked about it before, but that is true of many topics. Although I do find people who have a mixed, blended look to be very attractive, I admire a wide variety of female beauty, from Catherine Denueve to Gong Li to Iman. So, no, I don't think that we necessarily uphold as beauty standards "better" images of ourselves.

I did notice that Mayim's my space pal could be Mayim's cousin based on features and coloring. But, no offense, that woman is skeletal, even if naturally so. Mayim is the better looking of the two from the pictures I have seen, although skinny does photograph well. Skinny just doesn't look that healthy, especially after the gross celebrity and fashion model extremes we have all seen.

I think she may be very thin, but that pic of her back shows that she is not skeletal. And I didn't find either one very attractive, more like "oh, she's kinda pretty" for both.

Gemini13 · 01-26-2007, 02:13 PM

Interesting. Yeah, it's true for me, most of the woman I find attractive share some characteristics with me (most often complexion and hair).

sew and sew · 01-26-2007, 02:23 PM

Yeah, I can definitely see that. There's some sharing of features with who I consider the epitome of my definition of beauty, and then just having a tendency to notice a few other people that also have those particular features. There's some women I find beautiful and have nothing in common with, but when I have to ask myself 'who do I find really attractive' there's some general commonality ie., frame, hair color, facial structure.

Josephine · 01-26-2007, 03:03 PM

Hmm, I don't do that. I think angelina jolie's face is very nice and we do not have similar features, same with a lot of other women I find attractive.