Why do some people think beauty is not subjective?

[Anonymous]

Updates

1 y

I think it is. For example I never found Bella Hadid pretty.

Updates

1 y

Do you believe I wrote Bella Hadid isn’t pretty because I envy her or because it’s my honest true opinion?

[abc3643]

Because, to a certain degree, it's not.
There was a major nonfiction book published in 2017 by ornithologist and evolutionary biologist Richard O. Prum:

"The Evolution of Beauty: How Darwin's Forgotten Theory of Mate Choice Shapes the Animal World—and Us"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpYm1Qda1BY

It was one of the 5 nonfiction books for the 2017 New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year.
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www.nytimes.com/.../10-best-books-2017.html
Nonfiction
The Evolution of Beauty: How Darwin’s Forgotten Theory of Mate Choice Shapes the Animal World — and Us
By Richard O. Prum
If a science book can be subversive and feminist and change the way we look at our own bodies — but also be mostly about birds — this is it. Prum, an ornithologist, mounts a defense of Darwin’s second, largely overlooked theory of sexual selection. Darwin believed that, in addition to evolving to adapt to the environment, some other force must be at work shaping the species: the aesthetic mating choices made largely by the females. Prum wants subjectivity and the desire for beauty to be part of our understanding of how evolution works. It’s a passionate plea that begins with birds and ends with humans and will help you finally understand, among other things, how in the world we have an animal like the peacock.

Read our review of “The Evolution of Beauty”
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That review, "Survival of the Prettiest", is here:
www.nytimes.com/.../...rd-prum-charles-darwin.html

[inhua]

because there is objectivity within the subjectivity of beauty and measurable indicators of attractiveness

for example women are attracted to tall men. height is an objective and measurable indicator, same with body fat percentage, angle of jawline and dick size

same thing for men who are attracted to women with long hair vs short hair, lower body fat percentage than high body fat percentage, bigger boobs over smaller boobs, no body hair over body hair etc.

also some opinions are so popular that they might as well be a fact especially between women tend to think a lot more hive-minded than men due to the principle of pre-selection for example here's two groups of men

Group A consists of Liam Hemsworth, Channing Tatum and Harry Styles

Group B consists of Peter Dinklage, Danny Devito and Toby Jones

I can gladly say women will universally find a group A more attractive than group B and before anyone accuses me of sexism, I'll do the same for men too

Group C consists of Kristin Kreuk, Olivia Muun and Isabella Lucas

Group D consists of Lizzo, Rosie O'Donnell, Tess Holiday

with the exception of men who have a niche fetish due to men's broad variety in what they find attractive, the majority of men will find group C more attractive than group D

[PBandJ_Nerd]

As the saying goes "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder." I find most people attractive.

[Effably]

Of course beauty is ultimately subjective.

I believe people disagree because that saying is frequently used to say we are all equally beautiful or that no one is by default more beautiful than others. And while that is technically true, for any practical purposes it is still easy to tell the difference between people and most our views overlap.

There is also the argument that beauty is function. This holds up in most if not all species to some or a very large extent. For example we find a healthy body more beautiful than an unhealthy one. Traits that speak to our health or wellbeing are near always received well (hair quality for example).

Even in the case of more exotic examples, most animals that have some less functional trait as their symbol of appeal (colours, antlers, so on) achieve this by having sufficient food and doing well. And so it is still a symbol of their wellbeing. While that is not truly objective it is a cross-species rule of overwhelming majority.

It is subjective. But it is also not entirely subjective. And that's where a lot of people come to disagreements.

[Berethor]

Because most people can agree if someone is pretty or ugly, so it's only little subjective.

[Berethor]

As for the update, we don't know how you look, so it hard to tell if you envy Bella Hadid.

[dreamstar72]

I think it because some people looks for what is behind the beauty or the mask

[Dav1dTh0ma389]

It's relative. What one person thinks is beauty, another may not. Why some people don't understand this, I don't know

[LiamJHayden]

Probably because they do not understand the term and think that most agreeing = objective.

[Asker]

According to Google the definition of objective is 1.
(of a person or their judgement) not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts

[Asker]

Whether a person is pretty or handsome is always opinion based. Even if 80 or 90 percent of people vote a person is attractive that doesn’t make it objective or a fact. It is still opinion based because their are people out there who dislike their looks.

[Anonymous]

It is possible for the majority to agree on someone being beautiful or not.

[Guy13]

No idea. It is mostly subjective.

[Anonymous]

Because it largely isn't.