Beauty is the positive aesthetic value of a person, thing, or event. It gives pleasure and satisfaction to the senses and to the intellect, moral, and aesthetic faculties.
In ancient Greek civilization, beauty was the basis for architecture. A beautiful face had perfect symmetry. It also displayed proportional balance and a rounded chin.
A chin is the area of the body between the nose and the lips. An ideal Greek chin was smooth and round. To achieve this, a woman plucked hair from the crown of the head.
Beauty standards have changed through the ages. Over time, they’ve evolved into products, advertisements, and social status. But did these standards ever originate from nature? Some scientists say that evolution did cause them. Others suggest that the ideal beauty standard has been driven by capitalism.
The counterculture of the 1960s favored androgynous looks. The 1960s counterculture also emphasized social protest and femininity. This movement produced such stars as Doris Day and Debbie Reynolds.
Beauty standards also vary from country to country. In China, for example, long, beautiful painted nails were a sign of wealth. However, they were also considered an expression of power.
In the 16th century, Parisian doctor Jean Liebault held the belief that the ideal woman had a pale face and dimpled cheeks. She believed that the best face was round and that the eyes were proportional to the face.
The Roman poet Ovid wrote the first manual on beauty advice. He believed that the ideal face was a woman with a broad forehead, a double chin, and a small ear.
