Survival of the Prettiest Essay Example

by the survey conducted by Langlois about the attractive force that babes have toward beautiful faces. why beauty is a thing or power and influence which is one of the indexs of position or place in society. why people value beauty and aesthetics excessively much. why people seem to value some people harmonizing to their physical visual aspect the most as compared with other people. why people tend to gravitate towards other people who show their outer beauty. and why Etcoff sets a boundary between beauty and manner saying why manner is merely used to rise beauty but is non portion of a human being’s natural beauty itself. ( Etcoff. 1999 ) In a typical school scene. the pupil population is separated into coteries. From my personal experiences. I would hold to acknowledge that dissecting the high school scene is likely one of the most effectual ways to research Etcoff’s thoughts.

We have non merely seen this platitude of school coteries in films and telecasting shows or read them in books. but have experienced it in high school ourselves. where Etcoff’s construct of beauty is personified within high school’s societal construction. Assorted coteries in high school constitute the most beautiful people in one group. the cheerleaders and the athletes. the brainy-studious types in one group ; the computing machine geeks in another. the rebellious types form another group. and so on. If we integrate Etcoff’s constructs of beauty in this typical high school puting. we realize how Etcoff’s theory of the Assortative Mating explicates why cheerleaders and athletes seem to bond and set up desirable relationships with each other good.

Assortative coupling as a phenomenon explains why

people who look alike attract each other ( Etcoff. 1999 ) Aside from the fact that they are engaged in the same school athleticss activities. they besides resemble each other’s beauty. Cheerleaders are supposed to be tall. ideally have unflawed tegument and long hair. long legs. slender figure. figurine position. fine-looking faces that are ever beaming with good-humored smilings. and such. The athletes. on the other manus. are supposed to hold masculine organic structures due to the nature of their athleticss. and tall and statuette figures. Harmonizing to Etcoff ( 1999 ) . the physical characteristics than a human being possess becomes the ground why other people will happen him beautiful or non.

In the instance of the cheerleaders and the athletes. non merely are they normally attracted to each other as explicated by the phenomenon called Assortative Mating. but are objects of attractive force for other people outside their coterie due to the unconscious representations that people have on assorted physical characteristics. Comparing all the sorts of coteries that coexist within the high school puting. cheerleaders and athletes get the most attending from other people. This sort of incompatibilities in the interventions between them and other coteries in high school is described by Etcoff by explaining the beauty and aesthetics under the context of grounds or causes for esteem and physical attractive force. Etcoff ( 1999 ) mentioned how a muscular organic structure for work forces constitutes sexual dimorphism or standard organic structure constructions or characteristics that a adult male should possess.

In add-on. a muscular physique. as exhibited by athletes are symbolisms for strength and energy that the opposite sex would look up to from

work forces. The criterions as set by sexual dimorphism and the representations of the assorted symbolisms of physical features exhibited by human existences become the ground why people regard the type. based on physical features. of cheerleaders and athletes that are non found in other coteries in high school. Possibly this typical set-up in the high school scene will besides formalize Etcoff’s statements that beauty is something that is unconditioned in nature. non dictated by civilization or societal dimensions such as tendencies in manner and beauty. and such. and the criterions of beauty is something that is common to all human existences.

The phenomenon – that is the adhering together of the cheerleader and athlete types in high school. their physical attractive force toward each other. and the attending that they get from other people outside their coteries – may be considered as a platitude or a typical high school scene. and we ask why is this is so. Thingss or state of affairss that are described as typical are the things that have been happening in the yesteryear until the present. warranting why they are expected in assorted present state of affairss. This means that the phenomenon that describes the interaction and behaviour of the high school population refering the cheerleader and athlete types have been traveling on a long clip ago following a form.

Explaining why this form occurs is supported by Etcoff’s construct of shared criterions and penchants toward beauty and aesthetics and that these criterions and penchants are justified by assorted scientific constructs such as Assortative Mating. Sexual Dimorphism. and other constructs of Evolutionary Psychology. taking to the same phenomenon each and every

twelvemonth in high school. With this in head. we realize how Etcoff’s claims may be true. that beauty is non subjective and influenced by external factors. but is something that is unconditioned and shared by all. Mentions Etcoff. N. ( 1999 ) . Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty. New York. New york: Anchor Books. “Nancy Etcoff. ” ( N. D. ) Retrieved February 1. 2009. from The Third Culture. Website: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. border. org/3rd_culture/bios/etcoff. html “Nancy Etcoff. ” ( 2009 ) . Retrieved February 1. 2009. from Harvard Science. Website: hypertext transfer protocol: //harvardscience. Harvard University. edu/directory/researchers/nancy-etcoff