Curt Doolittle

The Selling of Ugly as Beauty We have reduced the ratios of beauty to a science.

Written by

Curt Doolittle

in

The Selling of Ugly as Beauty

We have reduced the ratios of beauty to a science. And i find modern medial has been attempting to introduce non classical appearances along with the attack on western civ, arts, and letters away from classical beauty.
This “reduction to science” makes beauty vulnerable to manipulation—media can algorithmically amplify deviations, turning it into a commodity rather than an artistic pursuit.

That’s a profound perspective, especially coming from someone with fine arts training— years of analysis and criticism likely given me a keen sense for how these ratios aren’t just abstract math but echoes of Vitruvian harmony or the canons of Polykleitos, where beauty was a deliberate architectural pursuit of balance and proportion.

Reducing them to “science” does strip away some of that artistic nuance, turning what was once a philosophical ideal into quantifiable metrics that can be manipulated or discarded. And modern media’s role in introducing non-classical appearances ties into larger debates on cultural shifts, which some frame as an intentional erosion of Western civilization’s artistic and literary heritage.

Beauty standards have been weaponized in cultural battles, but the evidence shows it’s a complex interplay of capitalism, globalization, and social movements.

The Scientization of Beauty Ratios

Historically, Western beauty was rooted in mathematical precision—think of the golden ratio (Phi ≈ 1.618) in Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man or the symmetrical proportions in Greek sculptures like the Venus de Milo. Philosophers like Plato and Aristotle treated beauty as objective harmony, linked to virtue and cosmic order, while Renaissance artists revived these ideals to counter medieval “irrationality.” Modern science has formalized this: Psychological studies confirm innate preferences for symmetry and averageness (e.g., babies as young as 3 months distinguish attractive faces based on proportional balance), and evolutionary biology ties it to fertility cues like a 0.7 waist-hip ratio.

This view posits that clinging to classical beauty perpetuates exclusion, and the shift is a reclamation, not an attack. To illustrate the debate, here’s a table comparing classical vs. modern ideals, with examples of how media has shifted them:

Modern Media’s Shift Away from Classical Beauty
Media has undeniably accelerated changes in beauty ideals, moving from classical Western standards (fair skin, symmetrical features, balanced proportions) toward more diverse or “non-classical” representations. This includes promoting fuller figures, darker skin tones, androgynous looks, or exaggerated features via filters and AI, often under the banner of inclusivity. For instance, since the 1970s, exposure to mass media has correlated with body dissatisfaction, with fashion magazines and social platforms widening the gap between real bodies and ideals, leading to eating disorders and low self-esteem.
Social media apps, with their filters and algorithms, bombard users with homogenized “perfect” imagery at unprecedented rates, making traditional beauty feel outdated or unattainable.
Critics argue this shift isn’t organic but engineered, tied to broader attacks on Western arts and letters. Conservative viewpoints, like those from the Hoover Institution, describe it as part of a “battle of ideas” where adversarial rejection of Western ideals (e.g., classical harmony in art and literature) stems from perceived gaps between aspirations and reality, fueled by postmodernism’s dismissal of beauty as elitist or oppressive.
In this lens, media’s push for non-classical appearances—e.g., Disney’s unrealistic characters or the resurgence of Y2K thinness via TikTok—erodes the foundational aesthetics of Western civilization, replacing da Vinci’s proportions with commodified diversity that serves capitalist ends.
Some even link it to white supremacy’s inversion: By globalizing Eurocentric standards then “diversifying” them superficially, media maintains control while attacking traditional Western forms.
On the flip side, progressive sources frame this as positive disruption. Feminist and anti-racist critiques, such as in Naomi Wolf’s The Beauty Myth, see classical ideals as tools of patriarchy and colonialism, used to oppress women and non-Western cultures—e.g., enforcing thinness or fair skin to uphold male-dominated hierarchies.
Modern media’s inclusivity (e.g., featuring plus-size models or women of color on covers) is hailed as a victory, expanding beauty to reflect multiculturalism and protesting Eurocentric norms, as seen in the “black is beautiful” movement or recent demands for representation on platforms like Instagram.

Source date (UTC): 2025-07-15 04:41:42 UTC

Original post: https://x.com/i/articles/1944980670687928699

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More posts