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Thoughts

B is for Beauty

By 13 February 2012No Comments

 
This is our 2nd installment into the Daily Mail UK.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

B is for Beauty by James Kerr and Matthew Johnstone

 

When it comes to finding love, deep down we’re a pretty superficial bunch. Beautiful people not only get the best-paid jobs, they also get the best-looking partners. Biology has no respect for respect political correctness.

 

Statistically, women prefer their men taller, darker and with stronger features. No surprises there. Men meanwhile prefer wider hips, fuller lips, longer hair and longer legs. No surprises there, either.

 

More surprising, perhaps, is our preference for the statistically ordinary – for faces that are ‘perfectly average’. However radical our tastes, we’re just not interested in the ‘interesting’ face. However individual we think we are, sexually we follow the maths: 6.18, the golden ratio, is our greatest turn on.

 

With mathematics stacked against us, is there any good news? Luckily, yes.

 

Psychology tells us that beauty is more than skin deep. It’s a cliché, sure, but only because it is true. Recent long-term research shows that the more curious, caring, empathetic and entertaining we are, the luckier we are in love. After all, we’ve all known people who have ‘grown on us’. The Clark Kent who became our Superman or the girl next door who ended up moving in.

 

Physical beauty is, after all, no indicator of emotional stability or long-term compatibility. As Tolstoy said, ‘It’s amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.’ So, though good looks seduce, best invest for long-term returns.

 

Beauty is:

 

What beauty does.

Rather than choosing someone beautiful, choose someone who makes you feel beautiful.

 

Of the moment

In Ancient Greece beauty was ‘being of one’s hour’: always age appropriate.  Worth thinking about when considering that facelift.

 

 

 

 

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