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Excellent comments so far from the men and women of this forum. I do agree that our societal acceptance of beauty standards are somewhat guided by media presentation. I would also say that, thankfully, these standards are not truly persistant in how we ultimately select our mates. I think that when we are young, mostly mentally young (immature), we tend to be more heavily influenced by the idea of ideal beauty. As we grow up (readily admitting that there are many who never do) I think that our ideas about beauty shift and changed to a broader definition of what we find attractive. Hopefully along with this is a realization that inner beauty, emotional and intellectual compatibility, has a larger role than physical beauty in choosing a life-long mate.
The whole issue of putting physical beauty above all else came up in a recent episode of "Bones". The female protagonist is an anthropologist. A victim they were trying to identify had extensive plastic surgery. She commented that many cultures in their declining years put more and more emphasis on physical beauty as defining the value of an individual. Perhaps this holds true today. Maybe the whole of our culture is declining overall and the exaltation of physical beauty is a part of that.
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You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother.
- Albert Einstein
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