If beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder then why does the majority of society agree on what is beautiful?

Question

This is from an instagram post that has 6k plus likes and reassuring comments of her beauty. You don’t see this happening to ugly girls or okay looking girls.
This might mean that beauty is not as much in the eye of the beholder as we all believe it is but why?

If beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder then why does the majority of society agree on what is beautiful?

inhua · Accepted Answer

a society that has choice is basically a capitalist free market and the free market is often right. if people are choosing to buy one product over another, there's a strong chance that the product being bought more is superior to the other.

when it comes to beauty, what many people misunderstand about its subjectivity is that it only applies when both candidates are of similar attractiveness, not when there are separate defined categories.

sure, people can agree or disagree who is more physically attractive between Amber Heard or Scarlet Johannsson but if people were to be honest with themselves, they wouldn't put Tess Holiday or Lizzo in the same category as those two. same thing for men too. I don't believe there's a single woman on this planet who honestly believes in her deepest heart that Danny Devito is anywhere near as good-looking or better looking than either of the Hemsworth brothers.

yes opinions are subjective but stupid opinions do exist e. g. Andy Murray is a better all-time tennis player than Roger Federer or Scottie Pippen is a better all-time basketball player than Michael Jordan. harsh as it may seem, it also applies to beauty and sometimes we just have to be realistic with ourselves.

MCheetah · Accepted Answer

What the fashion and movie industry decides is "beautiful" is not indeed, "beautiful." It's marketability; usually based on wealth and class privilege. Which is why beauty standards are different in different parts of the world, especially those less wealthy than the US and first-world predominately white countries.

While there are SOME baseline standards for what is "beautiful," such as good health, clear skin, and youthfulness, these things are not universal, nor stay the same as time changes. Which is why in the past, hundreds of years ago in Europe, Rubenesque women were considered the ideal, because "chubby women" were the wealthiest at that time and could afford the gluttony most people could not, and that determined the beauty standard. Most beauty standards, in fact, are determined by wealth trends.

So beauty IS in the eye of the beholder. What you see models and actors looking like, is "fake beauty" in order to sell you stuff and make money.

desidoll · Accepted Answer

You are aware that likes and comments can be bought on instagram and facebook right? That is actually not a good indication to verify her beauty. She is beautiful to me, but she could be average to someone else. As to answer your question, we are programmed to like certain types of beauty because that’s what society agrees with, or deemed as the most common one. I still believe that beauty is subjective though.

My sister and I never agree with each other when it comes to men attractiveness. We both like something that is different, but we respect what we both like.

Also if you notice in all beauty pageant, those women who stand on the stage pretty much look similar to one another, (cookie cutter) though they come from a different racial background. Why? This is because it is way easier for the judges to select the winner based on their intellegence and presentation instead of their beauty alone. Imagine putting on a different type of women there (curvy, skinny, chubby, petite, tall, short etc…), the judges are going to have a tough time selecting the best woman because apparently, each of them has their own standard on what they find attractive.

WonderBell99 · Accepted Answer

As a matter of attraction, yes. I could find someone attractive, but it does not necessarily mean that I’d date them. Acknowledging that someone is attractive is different from being attracted to them. I need to be attracted to someone physically, emotionally and mentally to be able to date them. I cannot fathom dating someone I’m not attracted to in terms of emotions.

A lot of people find Ryan Gosling attractive, but I don’t. He looks attractive, but he is simply not my type. The same goes for Michael Jordan or Jason Momoa. I do have a type I’m drawn to.. and they mostly *seem* like they have a serious personality with a RBF, lol. I do like a guy who smiles and laughs though.

Beauty is somewhat objective.. yes, but it is also subjective in the sense, you could find someone unattractive but others might find them incredibly attractive. It’s just a matter of opinion. You wouldn’t necessarily call them ugly, but you simply don’t think they’re all that. Just OK looking.

Adaeva · Answer

There are common universal characteristics of beauty for all societies, present and past. Bilateral symmetry is a universal characteristic for all species as advanced as lizards and most insects. Whether a society prefer fat or thin, in addition to bilateral symmetry, other universal characteristics of beauty for women for all societies include, a small waist to hip ratio (typically an hour-glass figure), smooth clear skin, and a youthful appearance. There are no exceptions; and include Disney cartoon princesses and anime drawings.

Kaneki05 · Answer

Because it's objective. Technically anything is. Even colour has survey's done showing what people like the most and the reasons why it's more likely to be one colour than another.
If it exists and can be measured it's objective. However the twist in that is we will classify somethings subjective when it is more social just due to making it easier.

Though I can easily say blue is objectively the most liked colour therefore is statistically better therefore clearly measured to be the best. Meanwhile my self don't like blue but objectively I am the odd one out.

kylee2437 · Answer

In my opinion , she looks like an overly average girl. She must be known for something or has a lot of friends. Bought followers on Instagram are also a thing where people buy their followers. I wouldn’t go based off of any kind of social media. Social media is mostly a popularity contest.

RavVid · Answer

Facial symmetry correlates strongly with agreed upon beauty. So it is objective in that sense.

However the shape of the face is important to me and I just read that identical twins - same genes, same rearing - don't agree on that. So that seems to bar a genetic basis.

Anyway I know what I like and thats what counts.

I like tight waists which tends me towards smaller breasted girls. Other guys like big breasts which will tend to girls with not so tight waists.

At some point we are reacting to what we find attractive but say beautiful as a synonym.

Wish4UrB00ty · Answer

Lol! That is not what that means… and it is questions like this that make girls question why they aren’t beautiful enough. Even that girl is insecure about herself. All 6k of those likes had various reasons why they liked it and I garontee that within those comments are some real nasty ones.

HighValue · Answer

She is a 6 in my opinion. I frequently see girls that look better IRL where I live in the central valley in CA.

People get lots of likes based on desperate people wanting attention. It is also based on how much/often they post and engage with others online. With literally hundreds of millions of people online, a few thousand likes is not significant for someone that spends lots of time and effort online to get attention.

Chazmatazz269 · Answer

Ours isn’t the only society on Earth. The present societies aren’t the only ones to ever exist on Earth. A broader examination of what different peoples across various eras considered “beautiful” clearly highlights the truth in that old saying. There has been some research attempting to establish commonalities between some of them and the results suggest symmetry is at the core of universal beauty. The more symmetrical your features, the more widely you’ll be considered beautiful.

YourFavoriteFriend · Answer

Because it really isn't. I mean, it's true that when you truly love someone, he/she's the most beautiful in YOUR eyes. But you must first truly love someone to feel that and also, you are the only one that see's them this way. Of course been attractive doesn't not mean that you'll find you soul mate but it will be much much easier to find a decent LTR.

by the way, the girl in the pic is average at best. Her legs are what get all these likes ;)

_piotr · Answer

There is no method to assess objectively a value of beauty. That something is popular does not mean it's objectively good. There is probably some kind of distribution of beauty scores. There is art that few will find appealing, but we can not state that their choice is wrong.

OlderAndWiser · Answer

I am not attracted to Angelina Jolie whatsoever. If beauty is not subjective, why am I not attracted?

LimitedBenefits101 · Answer

This chick isn't even attractive but Insta is filled with simps, i've seen land whales getting 10k likes and all positive comments thanks to simps

Mmmariaxc · Answer

I don’t know she isn’t ugly but looks pretty average/basic to me. Do you think all her likes are real people?

HighlyQuestionable · Answer

Sorry, but this might be controversial. Because "society" is now less a group of individuals than a single "Hive mentality" with a few variations.

Berethor · Answer

People have different preferences, but most people agree if someone is beautiful or ugly.

Anonymous · Answer

Because world's population is 7 billion people. 6000 is only a small percentage of 7 billion.

Anonymous · Answer

Not really. We have clearly defined ideals, standards of WHAT is attractive in society. The whole "beauty is in the eye of the beholder was created by unattractive people so they wouldn't feel so unattractive.

Anonymous · Answer

Just another basic bitch on Instagram with simpletons drooling over it.

AndrésC64 · Answer

There are a few basic, universal traits that are found attractive. The main one is symmetry.

RedPassion95 · Answer

She looks fucking 12 and average. She looks no special thanks other average girls.

Guy13 · Answer

Definitely in the eye 👁 of the Beholder

Anonymous · Answer

The majority doesn't agree, though.

If beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder then why does the majority of society agree on what is beautiful?

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Why do individuals say beauty is in the eye of the beholder but then majority of society agrees on what is beautiful?

If beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder then why does the majority of society agree on what is beautiful?

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Why do individuals say beauty is in the eye of the beholder but then majority of society agrees on what is beautiful?

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