amicus
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2003
- Posts
- 14,812
An ongoing discussion about ‘objective’ definitions of abstract human characteristics has inspired this attempt at further illumination.
A recent ‘nerd channel’ program, Discovery/Science/History…one of those, asked the question of what men and women found ‘beautiful’ in each others physical appearance.
The program went to some lengths all around the world to illustrate the concept that there was an ‘objective’ means of ‘perceiving’ and identifying ‘beauty’ in many different nations and cultures.
They went so far as to have women smell worn t-shirts of men; to observe infants as they were shown examples of human and non human figures.
It should not come as a surprise that people all over the world chose the ‘same’ examples of both men and women as representing ‘beauty’ in a human being.
And of course, from a quick observation of film stars and supermodels, male and female, we already know what ‘most’ people consider to be ‘beautiful’.
If I were to just postulate that an objective definition of human beauty is a combination of symmetry, health and physical fitness, the outcry would be instantaneous and furious.
Beauty in the eyes of many is a purely, ‘subjective’ term. Depending on many things, society, racial characteristics, cultural preferences and even nurture as adult humans often seek a similarity in appearance to a mother or a father. The choice of eye and hair color, physical stature, tall, short, medium; many variables, all subjective, that go into making a choice about what one prefers.
Still, taking all of that into consideration, there does appear to be an absolute, universal response to those individuals who reflect those characteristics we recognize as ‘beauty’.
Beautiful babies, male and female, get more attention, more care, more nurturing. Beautiful women and handsome men have a wider choice of mates, they enjoy more sexual experiences. They also get better jobs and earn more money, just because they are, ‘beautiful’.
The conclusion of the program was, and I paraphrase, ‘beauty is that combination of human characteristics which reflect the best opportunities to create progeny…in other words, a physically symmetrical person appearing to be healthy, offers the best chance at producing offspring.’
There was even a magical numerical figure that gave proportion between breast size, waist size and hip size…that was found to be true in all cultures and throughout all of history in ancient paintings and sculptures.
So if your heart goes ‘pitty-pat, bump-thump when a dish or a hunk saunters on by, at least you now know why.
At the risk of unleashing the literary critics of this forum, I offer two examples of how a ‘writer’ might use the above information in a story. Both excerpts are from the work, ‘Billy’ posted on Lit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Boxer shorts?” laughed Billy.
“So?” She stepped out of the shorts and stood before him. She undid the watch and held it by a strap, slowly lowering it to the table. Molly ran a hand through her hair, tilted her head in a provocative manner; ran her other hand down her face, across her breasts and to her thigh. She twisted slightly, and posed with one foot up on tiptoes, lowered her eyes and ran her tongue across her lips.
She stood before the mirror, her small but perfectly formed breasts nippled and up-thrust; her mouth slightly open, nostrils flaring as she breathed; her chest and abdomen pulsing in time to her breathing.
For a moment there was silence.
“My God, Molly, you are gorgeous!” Billy’s voice was strangely uneven.
She smiled, “Oh, sure. I got tiny little boobs and mousy hair, not much butt, and I’m more than an inch under five feet tall. Not bad, maybe, but gorgeous? Not even in my dreams,” she said wistfully.
“You really don’t know? No one has ever told you how marvelous you look?”
“With Holly, a real beauty, around all the time? My folks were just happy I didn’t have warts on my nose or something. Holly’s gorgeous; I’m just, okay. I have mirrors; I can see myself. I know what’s beautiful and what’s not, I’m not.”
“Molly, Molly, Molly…you are a very smart girl... do you know what symmetry means? Of course you do. You are the definition of the word. Every physical feature on your body is exactly where it should be; the right size, the right shape, the right color, from your tiny waist to your delicate ankles.
If I were to try to create a perfect female body, I would create you. Your eyes! Step forward please, just a little, yes, yes, there! You have almost purple eye color. I thought so a moment ago. I have never seen a more beautiful woman, ah, girl, than you. You are truly lovely!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She turned around slowly, and then turned again as directed by Billy. She stood about five feet six inches, about a hundred and twenty pounds with the firm glowing tone of youth. Her breasts were full and proud, her abdomen flat above the golden curls, her arms and legs unmuscled but her thighs full and firm.
“Take a deep breath, relax your body and let your arms fall away,” he said gently.
She did as he asked and raised her eyes, “Well…?” she whispered.
“Smile for me.”
She blinked her eyes, her chest heaving; the corners of her mouth twitching as if she were willing a smile to appear, “I can’t”
“Smile for me with your eyes, Kathleen. Those eyes that know I am looking at you and finding the sight very pleasant, you are lovely. You have a fullness about you that makes me think of a painting I know, of a tall blonde woman in a flowing long gown with a child’s hand in hers. She is walking in a garden of trees and flowers, natural, warm and wonderful to observe. There are artists who would pay you two hundred dollars an hour just to stand like that as they tried to capture the essential real beauty. Smile for me, Kathleen.”
Her eyes opened wide, “Two hundred dollars an hour? Just to paint me like this?” She spread her arms as a tiny smile lined her face and her eyes became warm and open. She looked down then up again and smiled into the mirror showing even white teeth with full lips and dimples on each side. “I don’t think so.”
Billy watched her posture change as she became less concerned about her nakedness and thought about his words, “What is beauty, Kathleen? How would you describe a beautiful woman?”
She searched her mind, “I only know what I have been taught. Beauty in a woman is patience and kindness, compassion and understanding and caring for others. The body is just the flesh and true beauty is of the spirit, of knowing God and the oneness of all things.”
“Then you don’t care what you look like?”
amicus….
A recent ‘nerd channel’ program, Discovery/Science/History…one of those, asked the question of what men and women found ‘beautiful’ in each others physical appearance.
The program went to some lengths all around the world to illustrate the concept that there was an ‘objective’ means of ‘perceiving’ and identifying ‘beauty’ in many different nations and cultures.
They went so far as to have women smell worn t-shirts of men; to observe infants as they were shown examples of human and non human figures.
It should not come as a surprise that people all over the world chose the ‘same’ examples of both men and women as representing ‘beauty’ in a human being.
And of course, from a quick observation of film stars and supermodels, male and female, we already know what ‘most’ people consider to be ‘beautiful’.
If I were to just postulate that an objective definition of human beauty is a combination of symmetry, health and physical fitness, the outcry would be instantaneous and furious.
Beauty in the eyes of many is a purely, ‘subjective’ term. Depending on many things, society, racial characteristics, cultural preferences and even nurture as adult humans often seek a similarity in appearance to a mother or a father. The choice of eye and hair color, physical stature, tall, short, medium; many variables, all subjective, that go into making a choice about what one prefers.
Still, taking all of that into consideration, there does appear to be an absolute, universal response to those individuals who reflect those characteristics we recognize as ‘beauty’.
Beautiful babies, male and female, get more attention, more care, more nurturing. Beautiful women and handsome men have a wider choice of mates, they enjoy more sexual experiences. They also get better jobs and earn more money, just because they are, ‘beautiful’.
The conclusion of the program was, and I paraphrase, ‘beauty is that combination of human characteristics which reflect the best opportunities to create progeny…in other words, a physically symmetrical person appearing to be healthy, offers the best chance at producing offspring.’
There was even a magical numerical figure that gave proportion between breast size, waist size and hip size…that was found to be true in all cultures and throughout all of history in ancient paintings and sculptures.
So if your heart goes ‘pitty-pat, bump-thump when a dish or a hunk saunters on by, at least you now know why.
At the risk of unleashing the literary critics of this forum, I offer two examples of how a ‘writer’ might use the above information in a story. Both excerpts are from the work, ‘Billy’ posted on Lit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Boxer shorts?” laughed Billy.
“So?” She stepped out of the shorts and stood before him. She undid the watch and held it by a strap, slowly lowering it to the table. Molly ran a hand through her hair, tilted her head in a provocative manner; ran her other hand down her face, across her breasts and to her thigh. She twisted slightly, and posed with one foot up on tiptoes, lowered her eyes and ran her tongue across her lips.
She stood before the mirror, her small but perfectly formed breasts nippled and up-thrust; her mouth slightly open, nostrils flaring as she breathed; her chest and abdomen pulsing in time to her breathing.
For a moment there was silence.
“My God, Molly, you are gorgeous!” Billy’s voice was strangely uneven.
She smiled, “Oh, sure. I got tiny little boobs and mousy hair, not much butt, and I’m more than an inch under five feet tall. Not bad, maybe, but gorgeous? Not even in my dreams,” she said wistfully.
“You really don’t know? No one has ever told you how marvelous you look?”
“With Holly, a real beauty, around all the time? My folks were just happy I didn’t have warts on my nose or something. Holly’s gorgeous; I’m just, okay. I have mirrors; I can see myself. I know what’s beautiful and what’s not, I’m not.”
“Molly, Molly, Molly…you are a very smart girl... do you know what symmetry means? Of course you do. You are the definition of the word. Every physical feature on your body is exactly where it should be; the right size, the right shape, the right color, from your tiny waist to your delicate ankles.
If I were to try to create a perfect female body, I would create you. Your eyes! Step forward please, just a little, yes, yes, there! You have almost purple eye color. I thought so a moment ago. I have never seen a more beautiful woman, ah, girl, than you. You are truly lovely!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She turned around slowly, and then turned again as directed by Billy. She stood about five feet six inches, about a hundred and twenty pounds with the firm glowing tone of youth. Her breasts were full and proud, her abdomen flat above the golden curls, her arms and legs unmuscled but her thighs full and firm.
“Take a deep breath, relax your body and let your arms fall away,” he said gently.
She did as he asked and raised her eyes, “Well…?” she whispered.
“Smile for me.”
She blinked her eyes, her chest heaving; the corners of her mouth twitching as if she were willing a smile to appear, “I can’t”
“Smile for me with your eyes, Kathleen. Those eyes that know I am looking at you and finding the sight very pleasant, you are lovely. You have a fullness about you that makes me think of a painting I know, of a tall blonde woman in a flowing long gown with a child’s hand in hers. She is walking in a garden of trees and flowers, natural, warm and wonderful to observe. There are artists who would pay you two hundred dollars an hour just to stand like that as they tried to capture the essential real beauty. Smile for me, Kathleen.”
Her eyes opened wide, “Two hundred dollars an hour? Just to paint me like this?” She spread her arms as a tiny smile lined her face and her eyes became warm and open. She looked down then up again and smiled into the mirror showing even white teeth with full lips and dimples on each side. “I don’t think so.”
Billy watched her posture change as she became less concerned about her nakedness and thought about his words, “What is beauty, Kathleen? How would you describe a beautiful woman?”
She searched her mind, “I only know what I have been taught. Beauty in a woman is patience and kindness, compassion and understanding and caring for others. The body is just the flesh and true beauty is of the spirit, of knowing God and the oneness of all things.”
“Then you don’t care what you look like?”
amicus….
