Stay in Touch
Get sneak previews of special offers & upcoming events delivered to your inbox.
Sign in
04-14-2016 08:56 PM - edited 04-14-2016 09:03 PM
The thread about the men who make their wives have long hair reminded me of something I've noticed going on a lot lately: It seems like whenever a woman is slender, has styled hair (usually long, but not always) and wears makeup and fashionable clothes, everyone goes nuts over her supposed beauty. She's "gorgeous," "hot," "beautiful," etc.
I feel like this is a relatively new concept and, not all that long ago, those terms were reserved for women who really do have exceptionally pretty, feminine faces (Catherine Zeta Jones, Angelina Jolie, etc.).
I still tend to look at actual facial features in assessing whether someone is physically beautiful. If there were an average-looking but well-dressed, well-groomed woman, I would be more inclined to call her "attractive" than "beautiful" or "gorgeous."
I'm not going to name names because I don't want to put that out there, but there are quite a few famous women I can think of (and even some I've known in real life) who I feel are more well-packaged than genuinely pretty. Yet they get touted as these great beauties.
So, I'm curious - Do you all believe physical beauty is something almost anyone can achieve if they work out/dress well/groom themselves properly? Or is beauty more or less a genetic lottery, and even if you're wearing a sweatsuit and have Julie Andrews' haircut from The Sound of Music, you'll still look "beautiful" if you really are?
I've noticed the same thing happening more with men as well - a lot of celebrities who are currently considered heartthrobs, I feel like I wouldn't give a passing glance if I saw walking down the street. But if he's young, relatively fit and not dressed like Urkel, he's "hot."
04-14-2016 09:03 PM
04-14-2016 09:08 PM - edited 04-14-2016 09:10 PM
@Rachb Yeah. I feel like part of the issue, though, is that rather than those eye-of-the-beholder quirks we all have, there has become this universal standard of what "hot" is. And then you're treated like a weirdo if you think someone is goodlooking who doesn't fit that mold of well-groomed/well-dressed/slender.
I personally believe it stems from the exceptionalism that is known to have been taught to a lot of young people today as children. You can be anything you want to be, everyone is special, everyone gets a medal for participating, etc. So the grownup equivalent of that is, "Anyone can be hot if he or she tries hard enough."
It seems like anything coming to someone naturally is seen as an affront in today's culture; we've been conditioned to value effort, not gifts. Whether that's a good lesson or not, I'm not sure. But it is interesting how things have changed. I wasn't around back then, but I feel like when people like Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor were considered the gold-standard of beauty, some of the women who, by contrast, were cast as the ugly-ducklings could easily get away with being the "hot" characters now if they just put on the right dress and changed their hair.
04-14-2016 09:22 PM
Males are visual creatures. What they may deem as "hot," generally females will just at this same "hot" female.
"Never argue with a fool. Onlookers may not be able to tell the difference."
04-14-2016 09:37 PM
Not to me. As someone said, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I've seen many lovely, beautiful women but to be "hot" means taking it to a different level.
Few women are "hot" in my eyes.
04-14-2016 09:38 PM
I find well-groomed, well-dressed men attractive. Cary Grant was one of the most handsome men.
04-14-2016 09:38 PM
Good hair, clothes, and hygiene doesn't give you beauty, but it gives you attractiveness. You don't have to have genuine beauty to look good, IMHO, if you take are of yourself and dress well, you will be attractive....
04-14-2016 09:39 PM
Yes, I do believe that an elegance, clean, polished,well styled hair, nice makeup, manicure and stylish clothing and also good posture make women look gorgeous even when they might not be physically perfect.
I cannot help but compare Angelina, Salma Hyek, Jannuary Jones, Grace Kelly with a walking disaster of a woman like Lena Durnham who with all her family money could make herself pretty, but it's easier to be a slob.
With men it is the same , think of Carry Grant, Sean Connery,etc. Débonnaire men are always desired, although I think with men things are different. Scruffy types like Cint Eastwood are also yummy.
Bottom line, people who work on their looks make a better life for themselves. IMHO
04-14-2016 10:03 PM
I also grew up with the standard of beauty being based on "classic" and symmetrical features so it's harder for me to be objective about those touted as beautiful today, women with less-than-perfect features. It's somewhat based on conditioning and usually specific to a culture with specific traits being considered beautiful in a given culture. For example, we've all seen pictures of women in a tribe somewhere in Africa wearing all these rings around their necks to stretch them. Rings are added, one at a time, as a girl grows with the goal of getting her neck ad long as possible. They do this because long necks are considered beautiful in that culture. So yes, it's in the eye of the beholder but that beholder has been conditioned on some level to consider some traits beautiful and some not.
04-14-2016 10:42 PM
Certain tribes in Thailand the females wear neck rings from the age of 2.
"Never argue with a fool. Onlookers may not be able to tell the difference."
Get sneak previews of special offers & upcoming events delivered to your inbox.
*You're signing up to receive QVC promotional email.
Find recent orders, do a return or exchange, create a Wish List & more.
Privacy StatementGeneral Terms of Use
QVC is not responsible for the availability, content, security, policies, or practices of the above referenced third-party linked sites nor liable for statements, claims, opinions, or representations contained therein. QVC's Privacy Statement does not apply to these third-party web sites.
© 1995-2024 QVC, Inc. All rights reserved. | QVC, Q and the Q logo are registered service marks of ER Marks, Inc. 888-345-5788