The beauty of it is...beauty is similar across cultures

While each culture my define beauty differently, the fact of the matter is there are certain aspects of beauty that are universal. Women are most well received when portrayed as the "classic beauty type"(Frith, Shaw, & Cheng, 2005). Now whether or not this classic beauty translates across cultures will be discussed later; but for the time being, knowing that the best beauty is classic beauty crosses cultures. We like to think that everyone else is perceiving the world exactly as we are. If we like something, everyone else should like it as well. Same goes for beauty. If we think our significant other is beautiful, we expect everyone else to feel the same. Even if we don't think our significant other is beautiful, we still want others to think they are. So can this apply across cultures? Can an Asian woman be seen as beautiful by both an Asians and Caucasians? The answer is yes.

When looking at Western cultures, versus Asian cultures, there are strikingly similar attributes that the two cultures perceive as beautiful. In a study done using photographs of Asian, Hispanic, and Caucasian women, people of the like races were asked to judge the beauty of the photographs. All rated the same facial aspects the highest, despite the race of the woman in the photograph; these included large eyes, greater distance between eyes, smaller noses, narrower female faces with small chins, larger lower lip, and full hair. That's some list! With all the different variations of facial features a person can have, this tells you pretty specifically what is attractive and what is not. Well, that may be a little harsh. It's not that you are not attractive if you don't have these qualities, the research is just saying that these are qualities that stand out across cultures to be similar in likability. So much so, that the participants in this study preferred the faces of other ethnic groups to their own. In a follow up study, a group of Taiwanese judges were added to the mix and the findings were strikingly similar (Cunningham, Roberts, Barbee, & Druen, 1995).

I guess overall it goes back to the theory that symmetry is what most people find beautiful. It's simple yet says so much. Cross culturally, the findings are the same because this comes from an evolutionary standpoint. No matter what culture is being discussed, there is always the idea of survival of the fittest, and adaptation. Those with the best genes survive so they can pass on their fitness to their offspring. It's that simple. Although in today's day and age it may not be as apparent, we are looking for genetic fitness...someone healthy and genetically appealing to mate with. You are going to want your offspring to be healthy and symmetrical so you mate with someone who will do the same. This has been the rule across cultures and across time (Rhodes, Proffitt, Grady, & Sumich, 1998).

I guess now we know why inter-racial marriage is not that uncommon. Yes, it may have been taboo in the past, but apparently the appreciation for beauty of different races has always been present because different cultures perceive beauty similarly.