Clive Anderson - AT THE DERMATOLOGIST MAN'S QUEST for beauty is as old as civilisation itself. His persistent experimentation with the means of creating or enhancing beauty has resulted in the creation of various forms of art.
Recent research at the Universities of Regensburg and Rostock in Germany has attempted to find answers to the question as to why some faces are more attractive than others and perhaps more importantly, what social qualities are attributed to beauty. The results of this research make interesting reading. Their conclusions seem to disprove the well-accepted theory that the most attractive faces are those that are most symmetric.
They found that symmetry was only a weak factor to explain facial attractiveness. Rather, their research indicated that the surface characteristics (skin texture) of a face were more important in deciding whether it was attractive or not. These scientists found the following characteristics of the female face to be most attractive:
Suntanned skin
Narrower facial shape
Less fat
Fuller lips
Slightly longer distance between eyes
Darker, narrower eyebrows
Longer, darker lashes
Higher cheek bones
Narrower nose
No rings around the eyes
Thinner lips
The research answered emphatically the following questions:
1. Do attractive people have any advantage in life? YES
2. Are they generally treated better than the less attractive? YES
3. Is it important to look good on an application photo? YES
The results were 'alarmingly clear'; they found a strong 'attractiveness stereotype'. The more attractive people were stereotyped as being more successful, content, friendly, sociable, accessible, exciting, creative and busy. The scientists concluded that beautiful people have an enormous advantage and benefit significantly from their attractiveness especially in situations where a good impression is decisive.
They reported that we are trapped by the conclusion that what is beautiful is also good. Our own concept of beauty is perhaps inextricably linked to that espoused by the Western world. This situation is unlikely to change anytime soon given the dominance of Western advertising and entertainment. Unfortunately this has led to a situation where a large number of our young people will go to any lengths to lighten (bleach) their skin. Given our wholehearted acceptance of white values of beauty and the social advantages of beauty, this harmful practice may be understandable.
White skin is indeed beautiful, but so too is black skin, and brown skin no less so. Our efforts to eradicate the harmful practice of skin bleaching will not bear fruit until we change our thinking as to what is beautiful. The social advantages of being beautiful (browning) are too strong to be countered by moral arguments or dire warnings of disastrous consequences. We must, by the socialisation of our young and the positive portrayal of black-skinned individuals in the media and especially, in advertising, enshrine the concept of beautiful black skin and accord to black skin the social advantages now associated with lighter skin tones. If the German researchers are to be believed, the most significant feature of beauty is not the colour of the skin but its texture.
I wish for all Jamaicans of whatever pigmentation a happy and prosperous New Year and may your skin be beautiful.
Dr. Clive Anderson is Dermatologist and Venereologist.
