Ask Dr Nerenberg | Health and Fitness

Scientifically speaking, what causes beauty/uglyness?

My knowledge is vague about this subject. I know that beauty = better genes, fertility, health, etc. I also remember reading somewhere that better nutrition means you’ll be better looking. I’m looking for a good explanation. thanks in advance

Our society thinks “beauty” is very important. The only two professions, in which women usually earn more than men, are prostitution and modelling. But the problem of what exactly beauty is, has been worrying thinkers for thousands of years. The philosophers have had the field to themselves for a long time, but now biologists and psychologists are looking at “beauty”. Maybe Roget’s Thesaurus got closer than it realised, when it gave one meaning for “beauty” as “symmetry”.

Symmetry means being the same, or even, on each side. Now most of us humans (the right-handed ones, at least) have our right foot slightly bigger than our left foot. In other words, our feet are non-symmetrical or asymmetrical. Photographers have long known that there’s always a slight difference between the left side of your face and the right side of your face. And so, since the early days of Hollywood, many actors have preferred to be photographed on one side of their face, rather than the other – on their best side.

But over the last few years, the biologists have looked at the animal kingdom, and they’ve made a few discoveries about symmetry, and how it relates to beauty and fitness.

First, animals that are more symmetrical are more likely to attract a mate. One scientist found that he could turn attractive male swallows into unattractive male swallows (and also ruin their chances of a good sex life) by clipping their tail feathers with scissors.

Secondly, symmetry is related to fitness. Horses that are more symmetrical run faster than horses that are less symmetrical. In one study, biologists measured some ten features on 73 thoroughbreds – features such as the thickness of the knee, or the width of the nostrils. The differences they could measure were quite small, and probably had nothing directly to do with how fast the horse could run.

In fact, symmetry is probably a good indicator of general health and strength. Our imperfect world is full of nasty chemicals and germs. Only those individuals that are lucky enough to inherit a sturdy genetic makeup, and are also lucky enough to get good nutrition while they’re growing, will end up being more symmetrical.

And just like in animals, symmetry in humans seems to be a large part of what we think is beautiful. There are other factors involved, but symmetry seems to be one of the big ones.

Various studies have showed that if a man’s body is very symmetrical, he will begin his sex life earlier, he’ll have more sexual partners, and he’ll be a better lover. In one study involving symmetrical and lop-sided men, women who made love with the most symmetrical men had, during sexual intercourse, orgasms 75% of the time. But women who made love to the most asymmetrical men had orgasms only 30% of the time. And the more symmetrical man was more likely to have his ejaculation at the same time his female partner was having her orgasm! So according to this study, symmetry also meant more babies.

Now it’s a bit strange to imagine that a few grams of flesh on one side of the body rather than the other side should make any difference to one’s fertility, fitness or attractiveness. But maybe, just like in the animal kingdom, symmetry in humans could be a measure of general fitness and vigour.

So it seems that as far as we humans and science are concerned, beauty is not entirely in the “eye of the beholder”. It seems to be related to symmetry, fitness and fertility (as well as other things we don’t even know about, yet). But all the studies so far involved small numbers of people – usually less than 150, and mostly, around 30. And most of these studies have not yet been repeated by other scientists, to check their accuracy.

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