Why do people say beauty is subjective or in the eye of the beholder when the majority of the world actually agrees on what is beautiful?

[Anonymous]

[Lliam]

There are certain standards. Symmetrical features are one requirement. But beyond that, beauty is rather subjective. There is no standardized template for perfection. It has a lot to do with racial and ethnic preference.

In the end, nobody is identical and they shouldn't try to be. I think chasing fads is silly. And competing to be the most beautiful is a losing proposition. That's why I refuse to rate girls. There are so many absolutely adorable women who all look different. They are beautiful in their own right. And ratings always come down to personal preference.

There are certain celebrities whom media promotes as gorgeous that I don't think are particularly attractive. For example:

I think a lot of beauty standards are a result of commercialism. And those standards fluctuate over time.

[PrincessBunBuns]

It actually is in the eye of the beholder.


I took a class on attraction in college, and while we may agree that someone is “attractive”, the truth is we all find different people personally attractive.


Take this example, you find someone who is a 10 and someone who is a 8. Both are conventionally attractive, the 10 being more so. Except, the 8 has more qualities you would like in somebody. They are your race, they have your preferred hair, your preferred height, and they smell better than 10. All biological factors.


So you pick the 8, while somebody else asks you why.


Statistically speaking, people are attracted to people who are the same race, and have similarities to people in our lives. Hence, daddy/mommy issues. We find ourselves attracted to people who resembled our first love, to celebrities we fell in love with as children, people who mimic the relationship our parents had (healthy vs unhealthy).


So maybe beauty is not really in our eyes, but in our brain.

[nastyb]

I think that beauty is entirely subjective.

There was a time in college where there was a super hot girl in the class that every guy wanted to go for. But there was this one guy who chased me instead of her. I was shocked. I was just cute but nothing like that super hot girl. He told me that I was more fitting for "his type".

Even right now, many years later, I would have guys call me pretty, gorgeous, hot. I don't see any of it when I look into the mirror. I might be slightly cute but I really don't see any pretty or gorgeous at all. In fact, I think I'm ugly on most days. Certain features I really dislike on my face

[JacobJordan]

beauty is in the eye of the beholder because everyone is attracted to different things. yes there is a blanket standard that is posted publicly for what is beautiful but that does not mean everyone likes it. example. a lot of the listed most beautiful women have on more make up than I find attractive. as such i also do not find them as attractive. but other people think they are gorgeous. My wife does not wear make up and at least for me she is the most beautiful woman in the world. others may disagree with my view because they see something different and THAT is why it is in the eye of beholder

[OlderAndWiser]

There is a south Asian girl on this site who is now in college, and I have seen many pictures of her. She is absolutely beautiful but she believes that she is unattractive because her skin tone is not prized among other southern Asians. Most guys in this country would LOVE to have a date with a girl as attractive as her.

The definition of beauty is obviously bound up in societal norms and all of your friends would probably agree on whether a particular persoin is attractive. That doesn't prove that beauty is subjective. It just proves that you can extract some standards for beauty and find large groups which would endorse those standards . . . but you can also find groups that would disagree.

Consider the guys who insist that a girl is not attractive unless she has at least 36D boobs. But there are probably more guys who would prefer that a girl have 34C or smaller boobs, and a significant number who prefer 32A-34B.

[CoolCatMar1]

Who is that south Asian girl

[OlderAndWiser]

@CoolCatMar1 Other users sometimes tell me things that they would not want disseminated to other users, so I always maintain those communications in confidence. Trust me, she is a beautiful young lady!

[OlderAndWiser]

@CoolCatMar1. I would never reveal someone’s identity, even their username, without their consent.

[avery58]

Here we go again with this bull crap.

Because it is. Some things may be considered beautiful in some cultures while not in others.

For example, plus sized women are considered beautiful beautiful in some West African cultures while in East Asia they like very skinny women. But even then, it comes down to individual preference.

In general beauty is beauty, and not everyone has the same taste. There's some who consider Adriana Lima, Angelina Jolie, or Beyonce to be some of the most beautiful women in the world and to many others they're average as I've seen comments claiming both.

[Holsen]

Because it’s human nature to want to influence things or ideas and gain control or “territory “, that’s why people want to define whats beautiful and what’s appealing based on their interests as a whole , but no one says that is the real thing and for the question it’s not subjective at all. There are people who misjudge or misrepresent but that has nothing to do with subjectivity
Personally the type of girl I fall over or appreciate or find most beautiful and attractive is the one that has a pretty good personality and looks fit for her personality!!

[Joshydavid25]

Well different cultures find different features beautiful.. I do believe that there is objectiveness to beauty, with a face with a very visible jawline, a curvy figure on a woman and muscles on a man are universal across all cultures.. Lighter eyes are seen as beautiful universally.. The thing is what people find attractive is different.. Like the girl in the pic is pretty girl, and she's attractive.. But I personally wouldn't call her absolutely beautiful.. She's looks like an above average girl I could see walking downtown or on the Northside... Or in the Suburbs..

[Dinklex3]

Because it is. 5 people can think someone is beautiful and 4 can think she’s “average”. It’s not a “fact” she’s beautiful just because more people think so. Not to those other 4. So it’s subjective.

On an every day level I think my best friend’s husband is truly disgusting inside and out. She finds him one of the most handsome men in the world.

Some people find bigger men attractive, some do not. Some people find slim women attractive, some do not.

[rigmarole]

Because beauty is subjective. 90%+ of people date and marry their own race of people. Each race has certain physical characteristics that are more common among their race. Therefore you can conclude that 90% of the world population at a bare minimum disagrees on what they find attractive.

[rigmarole]

China as an example is roughly 20% of the world population. Only 0.0007% of China are foreign born. Thus, a very small fraction of one percent at most of Chinese marriage are interracial. Therefore Chinese who account for 20% of the world population, seem to find other Chinese people most attractive and completely disagree with what you find attractive...

[rossafayza]

I think its just Chinese and Japanese (east Asia)

Nowdays Korean people (part of east asia) are open-minded about get married to foreigners (white/Caucasians, black/brown people). At least you should have an attractive personality.

[rigmarole]

@rossafayza In the USA which is a relatively mix nation, 90% of couples are the same race. Throughout the EU 92% of people are in same race marriages.

[rossafayza]

Yup of course! Every country always like that 😅
98% same race, 2% mix

As I mentioned Koreans more open-minded now.

[rigmarole]

@rossafayza The USA is 75.5% White, 13.6% Black, 6.3% Asian, 1.3% Native American, 0.3% Pacific Islander, the remainder are either mixed or undeclared. Within the White demographic 58.9% are non-Hispanic Whites. As an example non-Hispanic White men in America marry non-Hispanic White women 90% of the time. America non-Hispanic White men next prefer Hispanic White women. These relationships make of 2.2%. After that it sinks to 1.1% of relationships being non-Hispanic White man with Asian woman, then down to 0.3% for non-Hispanic White man with Black woman. The point is each racial group will find their own racial group most attractive the majority of the time, thus no race agrees on universal beauty.

[rigmarole]

*American

[rossafayza]

by the way I'm not from the US.. but I'm from southeast Asia, Indonesian. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! I appreciate your energy for typing that 🙏❤

[rossafayza]

Add (+)
98% the same race, 2% mix nationalities 👈 in South Korea.

[rossafayza]

Some of Korean and Indonesian men look up to Russian or Japanese or Turkish girls these days (it's like their dream women).. Truly grass is greener syndrome 🙂 The visual of those women I'd say gorgeous. Because they have bone structure and the face are no doubt.

[rigmarole]

@rossafayza Yet Koreans have their own beauty standards and their own fashion models that are seen as the standard by most of their people.

[lilBigPotato]

It is and you can easily see that by traveling to different parts of the world. Tan vs white skin, big assets vs skinny body etc... different cultures have different beauty ideals and what you think is beautiful is heavily influenced by the media you consume and people you interact with

[Jbear27]

This is a really dumb question and I feel like this is just a thirst trap for compliments. While popular opinion obviously exists, opinions and still opinions. People’s tastes, likes and types are all subjective to their own personal views on the subject matter to include beauty. So while most people might consider you beautiful, there might be guys that only date black girls and don’t find you attractive. It all comes down to personal preference.

[OfDeath]

It's a way to help people forget they're repulsive monstrosities.

But there is a degree of relative subjectiveness too. For example, a hideous freak normally understands they're undesirable to most people, so to them, a grotesque aberration which would sicken an averagely ok looking person becomes a more realistic goal.

[Kinkyhubby]

Because everyone has their own opinion one what they like and fine beautiful. Someone might think a woman is hot and sexy, but I might not see it. That is why beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And I don't always agree with what the news or someone on tik toc will tell me is beauty. It just like art. Or when using a. Camper, or car or a truck. People buy what they like.

[AmeerX]

Beauty in a man maybe in what he does but beauty of a woman is in a significant extent associated with how she looks. It doesn't mean a woman who looks beautiful will always be preferred, why? Because, to create a deep connection people need to be compatible. A girl who is too beautiful will probably have bad etiquettes or be too full of herself.

I mean I fell for the most ordinary looking women in my past. They didn't wear a lot of make or had fancy clothes and stuff.

[RingOfFire]

Beauty is a combination of objective AND subjective analysis. Hence you may have a MAJORITY consensus about the beauty of some people, but not an absolute consensus. If it was entirely objective you would always have an absolute consensus in every case.

[caitycat21]

Because it is, there is a difference between objective beauty and what people personally are into. Like I can look at someone and see their objectively attractive but that doesn’t mean they are my personal cup of tea

[FoxEyez]

Because in the world's eyes it is beautiful and therefore, subjective because multiple people's personal belief becomes worldwide with other's similar beliefs.

[Billlewis]

@FoxEyez Yes, ma'am, I agree with you wholeheartedly, and I think this is particularly true if they've seen a picture of you, because you are absolutely magnificent.

[Anonymous]

It's funny I asked this same exact question and the responses I got were highly critical. Apparently it's norepinephrine acceptable if a pink account is asking it.😆

I think it's for the same reason why everybody thinks they're a unique snowflake. When in the reality is everyone deals with very similar problems. Everybody likes to think they're special and they are ONLY from a genetic sense. Otherwise they're not.

[Lynx122]

Well there is a certain variance in what people like but often it is just said to make people feel better or as some kind of dollar store wisdom.

[CrimsonAngel09]

A good example is the movie Shallow Hal, especially what Robbins says towards the end.

Media has told us for a long time what is beautiful and what isn't.

[FoyLee]

Yes, internationally around the world beauty genetically feature similar , personality also does count on beauty like feminine girl, my attraction will be genetic facial feature, body slim athletic , if I'm looking for long term, definitely personality does count,

[sheenagwapa]

yeah no wonder even if i don't talk nor flirt in college guys are i to me BESUTY not to mention western men are pathetic losers who keep papaying for my treatment again dear BESUTY

[boggboss]

Because your understanding is ona vary basic level yes most would agree she is good looking but the ask them to rate her and the subjectiveness will come into it