Beauty

Onhell

Onhell

Infinite Dreamer
I've had a debate with a friend of mine about beauty... is it in the eye of the beholder OR could there be certain universal traits to which everyone will respond to? I had put it out of my mind because obviously it went nowhere, but the other day I was watching Nip/Tuck, a series about two Plastic Surgeons which is actually really good. Anyway, one of their patients is a blind woman and she asks them if she is Attractive. One of them says "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" to which she counters, "No, PRETTY, is in the eye of the beholder, Beauty is universal and comes from within, from the (or your don't remember) soul". I found that rather interesting and well..... What do you guys think? Is Beauty more than simply physical features and encompasses personality and intellect, or simply physical. And is there someone out there who every single person in the world (men and women) would agree that person is attractive?
 
I personally believe beauty is more than just the looks. It is also how it makes you react, if you understand what I mean.
For example, if I think a girl is beautiful, it's not just that I think her face is pretty. It is also the way she behaves and acts, and the effect that she, as a complete person, has on me. I can't say that someone who I don't know if beautiful; I will always have to say they are pretty.
Therefore, I believe that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. I define it as more than being physically attractive.
 
Like many words in the English language, 'beauty' has multiple meanings. Visual beauty - "in the eye of the beholder"-type beauty is one meaning. Internal beauty - "comes from within"-type beauty is another. The two are not mutually exclusive. Both are acceptable.

Perhaps the best difference between the two lies in their synonyms. Visual beauty has synonyms like 'pretty' and 'eye candy' and 'hawt' and many more. Internal beauty is really in a class by itself with no easy synonyms.

And what has the Duke got to do with all this anyway?!?
 
Cause he was whinning about the forum being dead [!--emo&:D--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/biggrin.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'biggrin.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
I'll assume you mean he was whining.

'Whinning' is not a word in the English language.

[!--emo&:P--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/tongue.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'tongue.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
I agree with the idea that there are two different kinds of beauty. Visual beauty is more commonly thought of though, that form of beauty is more commonly brought up in my society(I dont know about the rest of you). And of course people talk about internal beauty alot, but its quite obvious that its only mentioned to make the speaker seem less shalow, vain. Its never sincere, not where I am from. California, the United states, I hate this fucking country. Nobody cares about who you really are, they may pretend, but its all fake. And I'm not discluding myself from any of this shit. Like they say, "It takes one to know one". But since I have a first hand view, I think my opinion can be helpful. It is brutally obvious that internal beauty is more important, in fact, its neccessary. But the idea of physical beauty is more common, and will actually always be more improtant to humans. So while this isnt exactly what the topic is about, I think it should be out there that, we as people, base our relationships more on visual beauty than internal. And before any of you (if any of you) respond, think about it. Let me know if Im wrong, it will be refreshing to know that there are actually people out there who can see past looks(but please, dont lie).
 
Still Life, I agree. And I myself seem to be so shallow. If a girl isn't physically appealing to me, I rarely try to find out how she really is. But physicall beauty is not ONLY looks themselves. It has to be something more. Let's take for example... Cameron Diaz. She's beautifull. But it's more than the traits of her face. It's also about the presence, if one can own a room, just by being in it. Charisma. You can have that without looks. So, looks +charisma=physicall beauty. In my eye.
 
[!--QuoteBegin-LooseCannon+Sep 13 2004, 08:35 AM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(LooseCannon @ Sep 13 2004, 08:35 AM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]I'll share my story, if you all promise not to laugh at me.
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Well?
 
Yeah, we probably will. But tell us anyway! [!--emo&:D--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/biggrin.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'biggrin.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
[!--QuoteBegin-SinisterMinisterX+Sep 13 2004, 04:35 AM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(SinisterMinisterX @ Sep 13 2004, 04:35 AM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]I'll assume you mean he was whining.

'Whinning' is not a word in the English language.

[!--emo&:P--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/tongue.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'tongue.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
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Whatever Mr. DICKtionary [!--emo&:P--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/tongue.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'tongue.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
As for what Black Ace said, Owning a room is definately part of a person's beauty BUT it comes from within. Einstien had that and he's no Cameron Diaz. His prescence came from his genius. As for still life's comment on we all focus on External beauty...well DUH! However, I can say that I did not fall in love with my GF because of her looks. When I first saw her she was just another girl, and we became friends. As our friendship progressed so did my feelings for her and there were times when I would see her and feel physical attraction to her, but it was a by-product of my feelings, not the other way around. And even now I still look at beautiful women, or girls dressed n certain way (specifically skirts hehe), but I just enjoy the parade. I am very lucky to have the girlfriend that I have.
 
Well, my story is very nerdy. As those of you who know me are sure to comment upon, I am very nerdy, so it's alright.

My current girlfriend and I met about 2 years ago at a place we both roleplay together online. (Yeah, let the geek jokes begin.) At the time both of us were in relationships that, though long-distance, we were happy with. We started becoming friends, though. And by this time last year, we had become pretty close friends. She's older than me (she's 25, I'm 20), but we clicked because I guess I act older than I am.

She hasn't figured out the truth there yet, obviously.

Well, she's smart, and funny, and has a great personality. She's been there when I wanted to rant and rave for hours, she's read papers for me, she's helped me through any number of social and familial problems. I think it was in October of last year that I realized the truth - I was incredibly attracted to this woman. 'Course, we were both still in those relationships (which were starting to sour, as the Duke can attest to on my part, at least), and why fuck up a great friendship?

Skip ahead about 6 months. Both of our relationships were descending into the shitter, and we found ourselves relying on each other more each day. I was falling in love, before I had ever even seen a picture of this woman! Eventually we did exchange pics (and she's gorgeous, or so my biased eyes tell me), and we got together after our relationships ended.

Moral of the story: I fell in love before even seeing this girl. I still haven't met her. So yeah. Inside counts.
 
Well thats cool. Your story is proof that it can happen. But, if you saw her first, would it be the same? Im sure you guys would still be totally infatuated with each other, but you said she was gorgeous; so if you had seen her before you spoke to her, would you have wanted to hook up with her for who she is? Or because she is a hotty?(Maybe its just me, being 15, but I wanna hook up with every hot girl I see).And, and this is just a hypothetical, what if she was ugly. Would you have the same feelings for her? Dont get me wrong, I'm not trying to shoot down what you've said, I just want to hear more opinions, more about where you guys stand on this topic.
 
In the past few weeks, I've realised that 'beauty' is something far more powerful then simple looks. I met a girl last year who was kind of plain looking, not much to rave about. I made a few callous, superficial judgements on her and was content with that.
However, I've been getting to know her better lately (through a series of strange circumstaces). I must now say that she is absolutely beautiful. Knowing her personality has somehow enhanced her physical attractiveness.
 
[!--QuoteBegin--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]she's read papers for me[/quote]

I see, can't you read? [!--emo&^_^--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/happy.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'happy.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
Proofread, dogigniter. [!--emo&;)--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/wink.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'wink.gif\' /][!--endemo--]

And Still Life, she is gorgeous, but would I think so if I saw her on the street? No, probably not. I've brushed off tons of supposedly "hot" chicks, just 'cause they're too typical.

I saw a chick the other day who you could count the ribs on her. Ew!
 
[!--QuoteBegin-Onhell+Sep 14 2004, 02:40 AM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Onhell @ Sep 14 2004, 02:40 AM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]Whatever Mr. DICKtionary [!--emo&:P--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/tongue.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'tongue.gif\' /][!--endemo--] 
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Grr, Onhell, I read that comment during work today and I really had to prevent myself from bursting into laughter. I hate you now [!--emo&:cussing:--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/cussing[1].gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'cussing[1].gif\' /][!--endemo--] [!--emo&;)--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/wink.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'wink.gif\' /][!--endemo--]


To participate in the beauty discussion again, there was once a girl in my class. When I first saw her, I thought something like 'yeah, she's not ugly, but I wouldn't really think of her as beautiful'.
I had known her for three years when I figured that she's really an interesting person. I started to have conversations with her and got to know her better and WHAM! I was in love. [!--emo&:blush:--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/blush.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'blush.gif\' /][!--endemo--] She became the most beautiful person in the world for me, both as a person and physically. I won't elaborate the series of events that occured afterwards, because they're quite sad, but now, we are great friends, though I must say that those feelings I had for her are gone. She still remains a beautiful person to me, though.
 
Hmm, I see I tend to get people into trouble often for stunts like that... My brother got in trouble in the university library because my msn nick read: Oedipus Rex: The Original Mother Fucker [!--emo&:D--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/biggrin.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'biggrin.gif\' /][!--endemo--]

Relating to LC's case, The internet is wonderful place in this respect. Believe it or not it is very hard to pretend online, it is possible to do it for a while, however eventually your true personality shines through. I've been an atheist in Christian Chats, a Christian Fanatic in Atheist Chats, a White Supremacist in African American Chats and a Black guy in a KKK Forum [!--emo&:D--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/biggrin.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'biggrin.gif\' /][!--endemo--] however, it is only fun for a while and I can only keep it up for a while before I tire of those people. For one it is only for fun and games. However, I believe most people DON'T do this, they are just themselves, and because of that you can see their personality and worldview rather easily. So you can quickly distinguish between the VAST majority of superficial idiots, bigots and smart nerds ( like Smart Bastard here hehe)*. Also, online like-minded people tend to huddle, so eventually certain sites are always filled with idiots and smaller communities with a brain will find theirs. Because of this Finding people you get along with, form friendships and possibly a relationship is easier than in the physical world. The internet acts as a filter while in the physical world our eyes might hinder our search. And sense i'm not making any sense anymore I'll just stop.

*Apperantly he no longer holds that title...damn
 
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