Are All Men Ugly?

[PhuturePriest]

This poll was inspired by my sister saying all men are ugly. She says no woman believes there is such a thing as a physically attractive man. So women, disregard my picture for a moment and please take the poll and maybe add some input: Is there indeed such a thing as an attractive man?

[Slappo]

Yes, but not many women have had the opportunity to meet me, so I can see why your sister would be a doubter.

[PhuturePriest]

[quote name='Slappo' timestamp='1348500907' post='2485986']
Yes, but not many women have had the opportunity to meet me, so I can see why your sister would be a doubter.
[/quote]

I know, right? My sister knows me[i] - me![/i] This should be sufficient in proving her original thoughts wrong.

[Anomaly]

[quote name='FuturePriest387' timestamp='1348501373' post='2485992']
I know, right? My sister knows me[i] - me![/i] This should be sufficient in proving her original thoughts wrong.
[/quote]I think women meeting you is sufficient for an increase in women entering Convents.

[Winchester]

There's no poll, idiot.

[PhuturePriest]

[quote name='Winchester' timestamp='1348503731' post='2485996']
There's no poll, idiot.
[/quote]

There was a poll. But Phatmass is going the speed of sloth right now, and it's not working very well at all. The other thread has a poll, so there.

[sixpence]

this is silly... of course there are. I don't believe she said that. I think you just wanted a reason to point out how vain you are :^P

[PhuturePriest]

[quote name='sixpence' timestamp='1348503852' post='2485998']
this is silly... of course there are. I don't believe she said that. I think you just wanted a reason to point out how vain you are :^P
[/quote]

[MIKolbe]

[quote name='FuturePriest387' timestamp='1348503798' post='2485997']
There was a poll. But Phatmass is going the speed of sloth right now, and it's not working very well at all. The other thread has a poll, so there.
[/quote]
you are pathetic with your excuses

[Nihil Obstat]

[img]http://mahandogrusoz.com/wp-content/uploads/William_Waterhouse_Narcissus_and_Echo_1903.jpg[/img]

[brianthephysicist]

Yes, men can be physically attractive. But it depends on what a person's standards of (physical) beauty are. A man that is attractive to one person may not be attractive to another.

[Nihil Obstat]

[color=#222222][font='Helvetica Neue', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif][size=4][background=rgb(255, 255, 255)]

[quote name='brianthephysicist' timestamp='1348519576' post='2486102']
Yes, men can be physically attractive. But it depends on what a person's standards of (physical) beauty are. A man that is attractive to one person may not be attractive to another.
[/quote]

I have been wondering on and off for the last several years if there does exist for humans some sort of objective standard for beauty.

I mean, ultimately speaking I definitely agree that what one person finds attractive another person may not. No argument from me there.

But I think it is really interesting to ask if we can strip the question down to the most basic, fundamental aspects, and perhaps see something universal. To me, there seems to be a rather Catholic quality about that. It is perhaps not a popular theory in contemporary circles, but we Catholics are all about the timeless. Just to be contrarian I kind of want to argue that there does exist an objective, universal standard of beauty.

My interest in this question has grown more or less proportionally to my interest in the art of the Renaissance period.

For instance, in Florence I saw this painting in person, and I was absolutely captivated by it.
[img]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Hynivb2k3r8/TU6soSsyMWI/AAAAAAAAB4o/mncUYXg9FRQ/s1600/Immaculate+Conception.jpg[/img]
Or we could look at the statue of David, the Pieta in St. Peter's, maybe Botticelli's Birth of Venus.

[img]http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/michelangelo-1.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.romaviva.com/vaticano-castel-santangelo/michelangelo-pieta.jpg[/img]

[img]http://mmmnoodles.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/botticelli-birth-venus.jpg[/img]

When we look at one of those, yes, we see a certain cultural mark. We see the Greek standard of beauty in David's body. There are, as I understand it, several Renaissance tropes in Botticelli's work. And clearly the Venus figure is not anatomically plausible.

But if we separate out those cultural marks, are we left with a standard that we might consider universal? Is it simply a broadly western bias?

I am not really sure, but I do feel a strong pull towards the objective standard position. At least in some sense of the concept. I really wish I had the time right now to study in depth some form of art criticism.[/background][/size][/font][/color]

[arfink]

Well, most women don't have babies out of a sheer sense of duty...

[MissScripture]

[quote name='arfink' timestamp='1348530452' post='2486213']
Well, most women don't have babies out of a sheer sense of duty...
[/quote]
No, we have babies because the babies are stinkin' adorable.

[MIKolbe]

and chicks like the sex.