Proverb Proof by Sundroplets
November 7th, 2008 7:37 PMThese are the beholders- 36 men, women and children from as many nationalities I could come in contact with in a 24 hour period.
These are the eyes of the beholders (do they hold beauty? .... we shall see)
For the test of beauty I decided I would collect eyes of various beholders to see if beauty could be found in them.
The obvious dilemma is how to interpret beauty in a purely literal term, as though it were a noun/thing lodged in someone's eye! That seemed a bit reaching, so I needed to expand my parameters a bit in order to interpret what it means to have beauty in the eye without falling back into the true meaning of the metaphorical.
First my research on beauty:
Experiments led by Piotr Winkielman, of the University of California, San Diego, and published in the current issue of Psychological Science, suggest that judgments of attractiveness depend on mental processing ease, or being “easy on the mind.”
He claims that what you like is a function of what your mind has been trained on. A stimulus becomes attractive if it falls into the average of what you’ve seen and is therefore simple for your brain to
process. In his experiments, he showed that even an arbitrary pattern can be made likeable just by preparing the mind to recognize it quickly.
In short, we like familiar things which accounts for cultural differences in beauty since beauty basically depends on what you are used to.
*So the question becomes do you find the eyes of ethnic similarity more beautiful than those who are dissimilar?
In my case it was true, I am an American female of Irish/English decent and the
eyes I found the most beautiful, were blue or green eyes similar to my
own and what my culture most often lauds as beautiful.
However, this color wasn't limited to my own heritage. In addition, because I know these people personally it was difficult to just look at the eyes, without thinking of the story behind them. For example, knowing how unique blue eyes are in the region, I have always been taken by people of middle eastern heritage with otherwise dark features, who have light colored eyes. It's very striking.
Once I realized that I wouldn't be a good test subject for only seeing "beauty in the eyes of the beholder" I decided to turn it over to you. This "proof", then, will serve as a continuation of the study with your help dear reader. Read on to find out how.
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*Curious to know if you find eyes of ethnic heritages similar to your own the most recognizable and therefore, according to the study, most beautiful?
Here is how,
- First, open each photo and write down the number in the title of your favorite picture of eyes.
- Next, scroll to the bottom of this page (no peaking!) and it will reveal the nationality.
- Then, in the notes tell us if Dr. Winkeilman was correct. Did you find the eyes most familiar/similar to your ethnic background the most attractive?
- If not, tell us what criteria you think you used to find beauty in the beholders' eyes?
(On a side note, I was truly amazed at how many nationalities I ran into during the course of a day without much effort on my part. The international community I reside in is rather impressive if I do say so myself.)
Reminder about the pictures and their corresponding numbers:
The numbers are not in order of how the picture thumbnails are ordered above, so make sure you write down the number of the picture first then check.
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(where omitted, age is unknown)
1- American, Male, (Italian, German, English) 28
2- American, (english/Irish) Female, 28
3- American, Male, 60’s
4- Australian, Female
5- Brazilian (black), Female, 35
6- Canadian, female, 27
7- English, (Canadian passport holder) female
8- Canadian (jewish), female, 29
9- Egyptian, Male
10- English, Male
11- French, (half English/French) Male, 30
12- German, Male
13- German, (full German but Canadian passport holder) Female
14- Indian, Male
15- Indian, Female
16- Iranian, Male
17- Irish (southern), Male
18- Iraqi, female
19- Iraqi, male, 30
20- Dominican (Dominica), female
21- New Zealander, female
22- Americans/New Zealanders, male, 18
23- Nova Scotian, male
24- Omani, female, 22
25- Omani, male
26- Philippines, female
27- Scottish, male
28- Scottish, female, 30
29- South African, female, 9
30- South African, (Pakistani decent), female
31- South African, (UK passport holder) male
32- Swedish, male, 50’s
33- Syrian, male
34- Tunisian, male
35- Ukrainian, female, 29
36- Uzbekistani, male,
37- Just for fun pic is Lorenzo, mix of Brazilian (mother) and English/Turkish (father) I think he is expressing his opinion of my “study” by beholding this facial expression!
16 vote(s)
Lincøln
3
Myrna Minx
3
Jennifer Juniper
4
Ink Tea
3
Morte
1
teucer
5
zer0gee
5
Amoeba Man
1
Ben Yamiin
2
Meelar
5
HKEY_Current _User
5
The Found Walrus
3
Augustus deCorbeau
3
Loki
5
LittleMonk
5
Peter Garnett
Favorite of:
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(none yet)19 comment(s)
My top ten most beautiful eyes (in order) are 8, 24, 35, 20, 18, 4, 21, 2, 28, 19.
8- Canadian (jewish), female, 29
24- Omani, female, 22
35- Ukrainian, female, 29
20- Dominican (Dominica), female, age unknown
18- Iraqi, female, age unknown
4- Australian, Female, age unknown
21- New Zealander, female, age unknown
2- American, Female, 28
28- Scottish, female, 30
19- Iraqi, male, 30
I found this interesting as I am a Jewish American and my favorite set of peepers is a Jewish Canadian. And I do have one American on my list, but very near the bottom. I don't know why I find people who don't look very much like me attractive, but I do. It might be because I went to a very multicultural school.
There is a lot of great here in this praxis, I would like to see what others think about it.
The eyes I found beautiful were:
4- Australian, Female, age unknown
10- English, Male, age unknown
12- German, Male, age unknown
22- Americans/New Zealanders, male, 18
27- Scottish, male, age unknown
-- then I went back and looked for more beauty --
36- Uzbekistani, male, age unknown
I am an American with ancestors from Norway, Germany, Scotland and America.
How interesting. I picked
2 (American isn't really a genetic or cultural heritage.)
8 Jewish
9 Egyptian
18 Iraqi
28 Scottish
33 Syrian (I was so taken by the eyes I didn't even seen the unibrow the first two times. Hah!)
35 Ukranian
I half-Turk (first generation), quarter German, and the other bits are English, Irish, and Scottish.
Good point about these countries not really telling the genetic or cultural heritage. I'm actually one of the set of eyes and I'm such an Anglo mut which was the case of nearly all the people from these countries. I wasn't sure it was really worth documenting all the mixtures.
However, I work with most of these people so I could add in the actual heritage. Thanks for the feedback! :) This was a fun task. :)
Well, to be truthful, *most* countries are an amalgamation of peoples from different regions, Some countries are just more mutty than others.
2- American, Female, 28
6- Canadian, female, 27
13- German, Female, age unknown
21- New Zealander, female, age unknown
29- South African, female, 9
I find it interesting that all the eyes I picked were female. I thought about it and I think that I was attracted to the eyes that had stories in them, the ones that seemed like they had seen life and weren't beaten by it.
Hmmm...
Heritage wise, I'm half Irish and half Apache, but I grew up in a Mexican barrio and on AFB's (yeah yeah, I'm a military brat, I went the other of two ways and ran the minute I turned 16 and was emancipated). So I grew up around many cultures.
And I think American is most certainly a culture and a heritage. We are the bastard children of the world, and damn proud of it.
I would like to point out that I said a genetic cultural heritage. Any culture we as Americans have is very young, and often not so much inherited (heritage) as self-selected. Our eyes are not genetically similar to one another's, especially in comparison to older cultures. Be proud all you like, but we cannot claim biological heritage resemblances- other than being the same species.
I'm with Inky - American is a cultural heritage (several related ones, actually!) quite worth enjoying your membership in, but it isn't even as genetically uniform as most countries - and genetically, very few are actually particularly homogeneous.
A few thoughts on the matter. The study on how the brain recognizes and interprets beauty was called a function of pure familiarity.
So what is familiar? In America where there is less of a homogeneous population, and were "mut" applies quite aptly to most of us, I think cultural conditioning might play more of an influence on what we consider beautiful (media influence to be more specific).
Here in the Middle East, most of their ancient love songs are about "black eyes" and how beautiful they are. However, in more recent eras, light eyes are considered the most beautiful in general. Yet, there are not that many who have anything other than brown eyes in this region. I would say, they too, are the casualties of that same media influence that dictates beauty around the world.
I would like to think I am beyond such things, that I see spirit and depth in eyes. But maybe it is all just dependant on having seen more blue eyes than brown on prime time TV. How depressing! ;)
Well, I can understand that, but genetically, I *am* half American. Sleeping Woman Tribe from New Mexico. Otherwise, I find it odd that when asked people usually don't say 'I'm American.' They always say 'Oh, I'm half Irish and half Cuban' or I'm Russian, German, and Swiss.' It seems as Americans we mostly define ourselves by where our ancestors were from, whereas in other countries they will say merely 'I'm British' even if their mother was from Russia.
Nother difference.
'The difference between Americans and Europeans is that Americans think that 100 years is a long time and Europeans think that 100 miles is a long distance.'
My apologies, Morte- I'm accustomed to ethnic Americans referring to themselves as Native or referencing the tribe(s) from which they descend. That said? Native cultures often are *less* mutt than European descendants.
And.... as a first generation Turkish-American? I can tell you that my relatives in London, in Munich, and my father in South Dakota- all refer to themselves as Turkish. And few Germans and Brits would refer to my cousins as Germans or Brits. It's not just an American thing- though I will agree with you on the short-sighted history of many Americans, hence my suggestion that any cultural history that we share as Americans is very young.
Actually wrote a grant proposal just recently, regarding the habit of many Americans to associate with cultures that are removed not only geographically, but chronologically as well.
Oh, no apologies needed. Unless the conversation descends into aspersions cast against my mother (and trust me, I can rip on my mom better than anyone) then I in general assume that these conversations are just that... conversations and debates about differing viewpoints. I am always glad to get someone elses take on just about any topic, because they are seeing a different side of it than I will. Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle as applied to humanity.
That being said, according to the US government I am not Apache. According to my tribe I am. Guess which one I care about. I don't have a tribal number, I'm not registered, and I don't get the government subsidy. The reason for this is because I grew up near the reservation and I know what conditions they live in. The money that I could be getting is better used going to someone on the reservation that that money is the *only* way that they are going to get off the reservation and go to college. I had and have access to resources that they don't, so I didn't feel it was right to take that money just because I could.
First and second gens I can see still identifying with the cultures they and their parents cam from, after that I think one should identify more with the country you grew up in.
As to the last bit, there was one job that I worked at where some of the African-American women came in with bright red and green streaks in their hair and when the manager complained they said that it was cultural and they didn't have to change it because that would be racist and denying them their culture. I came in a few days later with blue hair, and when the manager pitched a fit I pointed out to her that I was half Irish and descended from the Pictish tribes who would colour their hair blue with woad in preparation for doing battle and that I could prove it. Therefore if she was going to allow the other women to have coloured hair based on their cultural and ethnic histories than I should be able to too, fair was fair.
She didn't like me much after that.
Thanks for this comment. It's true, recognition (or beauty) could be a recognition of emotion from the pictures of the eyes rather than just ascetics limited to color, shape etc. Since eyes are said to be the window to the soul, I like this observation very much. Thanks for taking it to the next level!
Very interesting concept. Really made me think.
2- American- Irish/English
8- Canadian Jewish
24-Omani female
18- Iraqi female
35- Ukrainian female
Meelar, did you find this to be more or less similar to own ethnic background and or cultural conditioning?
Very interesting. Most of my choices were showed a bias towards my muddled British/Russian ancestry, but the eyes I found by far the most appealing were actually 34 - Tunisian, male.
I like this task. I especially like it because it has inspired me to do things: 1) finally research how the genetics of eye color work beyond the basic blue and brown; and 2) look up where in Africa Tunisia actually is.
As an American male with European ancestors, my favorites were:
28 - Scottish, female, 30
2 - American, (english/Irish) Female, 28
23 - Nova Scotian, male
An interesting idea.
I'm struck by 18, 22, and 9. They seem equally engaging, and very far removed from the rest.
But, is it the characteristics of the eyes to which I'm responding, or the photos? I suspect the later has an awful lot to do with it. Attempts to consciously disregard the image and pay attention only to the eyes quickly lead to the sort of second-guessing that renders my answers meaningless. (Which eyes *should* I find most beautiful? It's a question which cannot be un-asked.)
edit: Oh, and as far as my own features, I'm descended mostly from the low-contrast, beige-on-beige tribes of northern Europe and look the part. It's rare that I see beauty in similar features. I grew up in the ethnically diverse coastal US.
Let´see: 1. American, 2. American, 4. Australian,10. English, 19. Iraqi, 29. South African, 36. Usbekistani, 37. Brazilian/EnglishTurkish.
I am Mexican, but what is my cultural conditioning? The places where I have lived? The movies that I have watched?
I like the idea of "easier on the mind is beautiful": most accesible of stored patterns...