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From: chabot@amber.DEC (Lisa S. Chabot)
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: Re: Re: what is beauty - (nf)
Message-ID: <2559@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 15-Jul-84 14:01:34 EDT
Article-I.D.: decwrl.2559
Posted: Sun Jul 15 14:01:34 1984
Date-Received: Mon, 16-Jul-84 05:31:48 EDT
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ism780!judy wrote:

> There is a difference between beautiful and attractive ... And, 
> unfortunately, a lot of it comes from generic qualities.  It takes a certain
> type of bone structure*, skin tone, and body shape to really be beautiful.
> For example, the Swedish are among the most beautiful people in the world...

>ack!!<

And they must be hairy swedes, if they're male, right?
Sheesh!  And only if they conform to the ideal Aryan type.

I was immediately reminded of:

"The most temperate climate lies between the 40th and 50th degree of latitude,
and it produces the most handsome and beautiful men.  It is from this climate
that the ideas of the genuine color of mankind, and of the various degrees of
beauty ought to be derived."

		--Comte de Buffon, leading French naturalist of the 18th 
		  century [quoted in _The_Mismeasure_of_Man_ by Stephen Jay 
		  Gould] [lest you think I go around translating 18th century
		  French manuscripts]

>ack!!< >ack!!< >ack!!<

> But for the real thing, the person must have a level of selflessness.  This 
> is what brings out true beauty.  ...
> I watched the Miss Universe Pageant this week and this is the quality that
> made the difference to me.  The judges agree.  And it was, Miss Sweden.  But
> she had no self consciousness about how pretty she was.  It was her selfless
> involvement that made the difference.

Oh, well, that explains the above.  Judy has obviously accepted the 
capitalist/consumerist standards and roles of beauty (which of course, do have
utility in convincing us to buy, buy, buy so that we will conform to look like
those "beautiful" people in commercials).  Anybody who watches and believes (!)
beauty pageants ... should be forced to watch "Smile" 42 consecutive times (and
no toilet breaks, either :-). 

> And we attractives can do wonders for ourselves with the same thing.  People
> who walk around thinking about how attractive they are are far less 
> attractive than those who spend their time being genuinely interested in the
> people around them.

On the other hand, people who are genuinely lacking in self-insight defeat any
attractiveness they claim in net.singles to have.  {hey, look, if she can claim
absolute standards about hair and color, I can claim absolute standards about 
introspection, no?}

	L S Chabot

UUCP:	...decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-amber!chabot
ARPA:	...chabot%amber.DEC@decwrl.ARPA
reality:   somewhere in Marlborough country

* Footnote:  I am reminded of the character played by Madelin Kahn in 
             "Paper Moon"  who is always talking about the importance of 
             "bone struckchah" (when what she really seems to mean is not
             not "bone structure" but instead "bust size").