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"Ugliness" is always from a given perspective and usually says more about the biases of the person holding the view than about the person in question.

This woman is remarkable given the challenges she has had to face. I hope she continues to educate those with small minded opinions.




> "Ugliness" is always from a given perspective

No, humans have a pretty converging opinion on what's attractive in other humans. To the point of being quantifiable https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/fashion/09skin.html?pagew...

And, really, come on, the idea of sexual selection is 150 years old. We don't need to be slaves to it but it is real.


Humans may have a converging opinion however this is more likely related to the current social norms rather than an anything else.

If you were to transport a person from 400 years ago into the present then you would find their idea of ugliness would be very different from our present opinion.

I agree that sexual selection isn't a new idea, however I would suggest it's more related to what the media and advertising tells us is optimal rather than other factors (e.g. see the changing sexual norms in teenagers due to porn).


> this is more likely related to the current social norms rather than an anything else.

Again, no

>> Studies have shown that there is surprising agreement about what makes a face attractive. Symmetry is at the core, along with youthfulness; clarity or smoothness of skin; and vivid color, say, in the eyes and hair. There is little dissent among people of different cultures, ethnicities, races, ages and gender.

Symmetry works across species. Are zebras influenced by the current social norms?

>> Female Zebra Finches Prefer Males with Symmetric Chest Plumage

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/258/1353/267....

Search for symmetry and sexual in Google Scholar and you'll find hundreds of studies showing that those preferences are obviously innate. Maybe not all of them but a lot of them.

And the resulting judgement is instantaneous — humans can judge attractiveness unconsciously, without noticing it, in 13ms! http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/04/how-long-does-it-take-to-d...

> If you were to transport a person from 400 years ago into the present then you would find their idea of ugliness would be very different from our present opinion.

That's not falsifiable.


"That's not falsifiable."

Besides that we have some conception of beauty ideals throughout the ages, as captured.


Sure. People find symmetric faces to be more attractive.

A person's physical appearance goes beyond the face. Body shape, fitness levels, etc are all factors in attractiveness, and those preferences have changed over the years, and vary significantly by population. The 19th century Victorian ideal didn't do much for a farm wife of the era.




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