How attractive we feel has as much to do with our minds as with
ourcheekbones. Here's your chance to shed some light on what shapes our
attitudes about attractiveness.
Isabella Rossellini, perhaps the world's most beautiful woman,
recently published a memoir, titled Some of Me. After reading it, you
find that by some miracle you like her even more than before--because she
not only knows that she's beautiful, but acknowledges what an incredible
gift of fate it is to be so. She manages to look objectively on her life
as a beautiful woman, with genuine wit and not a whiff of narcissism. You
wind up envying her, not so much because she's beautiful, but because she
is truly interesting. And at age 45, she plans to march straight into the
future with the face and character that have served her so well.
The same month, a woman of the same age, writer and designer Helen
Bransford (better known as the wife of novelist Jay McInerney), published
an unwittingly disturbing tale about another face. Her husband, seven
years her junior, had just interviewed actress Julia Roberts for a men's
magazine. Bransford, a chic, attractive woman, asked him whether he had
mentioned her to Roberts. "Oh, sure," he said. "I told her all about
you--well, everything but your age."
Bransford didn't smile at her implicit triumph. Nor did she ask her
husband why he thought to conceal her age. Did he think he was protecting
her? Or himself? Apparently, the remark triggered an identity crisis--she
had come of age in the shadow of another great beauty, her mother--and an
uncertainty about her husband's feelings. But rather than explore either,
she simply dialed a plastic surgeon. And eventually turned the results
into a book, Welcome to Your Facelift. Notice the presumption in the
title; misery, apparently, seeks company.
This is 1997, when attractiveness is no longer just a gift or
accomplishment, but a source of great confusion. One reason, suggests
Nancy Etcoff, Ph.D., is that our slow-to-evolve brains haven't quite
caught up with our cultural needs. A neuropsychologist at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Etcoff studies exactly what beauty
is and how our nerve circuits recognize it. She has found that beautiful
faces, like addictive substances, excite specific reward centers in the
brain. Beauty, it seems, has deep biological roots.
Research leaves little doubt about what stimulates this "B-spot" in
the brain, at least for men. "It's a young, unmated woman, or someone
mimicking one," says Etcoff. "That is, someone with a small waist-to-hip
ratio and such facial features as full lips, both of which suggest
premium fertility." Where does that leave anyone who is now or ever might
be over 30? We're not exactly sure.
Hence, we appeal to you, dear readers. On the pages immediately
following is our 1997 Physical Attractiveness Survey. Only you can tell
us the role attractiveness plays in real lives, how it fits into the
complexities of life, and how it interacts with time. Your participation
in the survey will provide important feedback on attitudes towards
attractiveness. The collective wisdom of PSYCHOLOGY TODAY readers may
also yield insights that can help others struggling with attractiveness
issues.
Please complete the survey and return it to the address indicated
at the end. The sooner you respond, the sooner we can provide the
definitive report on physical attractiveness. And while you're filling
out the questionnaire, please be sure to smile. One thing research shows
for clear Smiling faces are always seen as more attractive.
PART I. HOW IMPORTANT IS PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS?
1. How important do you think physical attractiveness is in
day-to-day social interaction for most people?
a. Very important b. Moderately important c. Slightly important d.
Almost irrelevant e. Completely irrelevant
2. What do you consider the most important effects of physical
attractiveness for women? Rank these in order of importance, assigning
the number 1 to the most important, number 6 to the least.
It boosts self-esteem. It helps a woman accomplish her goals. It
helps women form relationships with others. It helps women form
relationships with men. It brings happiness. Other
3. What do you consider the most important effects of physical
attractiveness for men? Again, rank these in order of importance.
It boosts self-esteem, it helps a man accomplish his goals. It
helps men form relationships with others. It helps men form relationships
with women. It brings happiness. Other
4. How important is it for women to maintain their attractiveness
as they age?
a. Very important b. Moderately important c. Slightly important d.
Almost irrelevant e. Completely irrelevant
5. How important is it for men to maintain their attractiveness as
they age?
a. Very important b. Moderately important c. Slightly important d.
Almost irrelevant e. Completely irrelevant
6. How important would you rate the following measures for
maintaining attractiveness?
a. Very important b. Moderately important c. Slightly important d.
Almost irrelevant e. Completely irrelevant
-- 1. exercising -- 2. combating stress -- 3. maintaining an
active, interesting life -- 4. avoiding exposure to the sun -- 5.
applying skin care creams -- 6. using makeup -- 7. coloring hair to cover
gray -- 8. wearing clothes that are attractive -- 9. aging naturally --
10. undergoing cosmetic plastic surgery
7. At what age do you think:
Tags:
accomplishment,
actress julia roberts,
age writer,
attractive woman,
attractiveness,
beautiful woman,
genuine wit,
isabella rossellini,
miracle,
novelist jay mcinerney,
plastic surgeon,
presumption,
seven years,
welcome to your facelift,
whiff
