Beauty
"Beauty is a form of genius—is higher, indeed, than genius, as it needs no explanation."
Oscar Wilde
A definition of beauty; a finding or a feeling?
Paul Valéry, one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century, states in his Notebooks, where he recorded his thoughts daily from 1894 until his death, that "to be healthy is the silence of the organs." According to the World Health Organization (WHO) definition, "to be healthy" is not only to be free from illness but also to be in a state of complete mental and social well-being. "Beauty," which relatively always follows health and happiness in rankings, is a concept we imagine we can define clearly and explicitly.
A physician working in the field of aesthetic surgery is often perceived as the person who creates beauty or ensures its long-term permanence. Aesthetic surgeons undergo long and challenging training to acquire, learn, and apply their professional skills. They utilize numerous books and atlases that include detailed surgical techniques visually when performing their operations. There is a wealth of easily accessible information containing many surgical techniques in aesthetic surgery books.
However, there is a very important situation that, in my opinion, is neglected during this training process; unfortunately, in the artistic perspective of beauty, or rather human beauty, the "concept of beauty" is not taught. I believe that, unfortunately, while specializing in the artistic perspective of beauty, or rather human beauty, beauty is often not taught and is neglected.
When we ask different people to define beauty, we receive numerous and vastly different, yet never fully satisfying, answers. Physicians working in aesthetic surgery, like many others, often struggle to define beauty.
For this reason, I see it as inevitable to also approach the subject of beauty from a psychological perspective. It is necessary to try to understand what goes through a person's mind when they perceive something as beautiful or not beautiful. Could this feeling be related to whether a person works as an aesthetic surgeon?
Beauty
What is beauty? What do books, dictionaries, and philosophers say about it?
For years we have been taught that beauty is related to proportion, balance, and symmetry. In line with these teachings, I will try to objectively explain the concept of beauty by first referring to a set of criteria established by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans.
“Beauty is a combination of forms and proportions that give us pleasure and inspire admiration.”
“Beauty is the balance between form and volume.“
“Beauty is ultimately a feeling that delights our eyes, creating an aesthetic sense and admiration within us.”
Looking at these definitions, it may not be entirely wrong to claim that beauty is merely a visual phenomenon. However, it is clear that a concept of beauty defined in this way will vary greatly across cultures and societies.
The most important point to understand is that beauty does not exist in itself: beauty is a concept that can only be defined in the eye of the beholder; beauty can only exist in the presence of another eye.
Humans find beautiful what they like. If something appeals to a person, it is beautiful to that person. However, if the same thing does not appeal to another person, it will never be beautiful to that person. It is also very clear that what one person likes and finds beautiful, another person may not like.
Scottish philosopher David Hume beautifully articulated this individual difference 200 years ago, defining beauty as follows: "Beauty is necessarily a private and personal experience. Beauty is in the eye and mind of the beholder. Beauty is not a matter of an object and exists only in the mind of the one who perceives it."
In my opinion, too, "Beauty is something that pleases a person, but there is no rule that what pleases one person will also please another."
As a physician who has been working for years to "create beauty or ensure its long-term permanence" with the classical definition, I believe that accepting that "beauty is an individual feeling" would be the most accurate approach in this regard.
According to many philosophers, "beauty is good, and what is good is beautiful."
Throughout our lives, our past feelings influence our present judgments. Our parents, spouses, sisters, and friends remind us of our memories and previous feelings. Beauty, in particular, stands out not because of its details but because of the totality that is greater than the sum of its parts. Similarly, our present feelings will affect our future emotions. The happy and unhappy periods of our lives leave traces that create our preferences. The faces we loved in our youth, those that brought us warmth and a sense of security, continue to live in our thoughts.
The concept of beauty does not apply only to a face, a voice, a body, or a graceful appearance. People are also beautiful with their personalities, their ability to feel, provide, and love joy.
If we find a person's face appealing, it indicates that we find their overall aura appealing. A person can be charming in many ways. Yet, we often confuse the concepts of beauty and charm.
Let's look at historical figures legendary for their beauty: Cleopatra, George Sand, Louise de la Theodora… They were truly beautiful. However, we also know that these individuals possessed great charm. Therefore, it would not be wrong to say that "beauty is more of an illusion than a reality."
Yes, beauty exists not only for the eye but also for the brain. The beauty of a face is only evident with the beauty of the personality.
While there are many ways to define beauty, it is often likened to charm. However, there is a very important difference between charm and beauty: charm is continuous. When the English say "Charm lasts! Beauty blasts!" they are beautifully expressing the transience of beauty.
Ultimately, we arrive at the idea that it is not only a person's eyes that decide whether someone is beautiful, but that the mind plays a greater role in this, and the heart can also see inner beauty, and the decision is made as a whole.
Another approach to defining beauty is based on sociologist Frumkin's views on a woman being evaluated according to her sexual appearance.
A woman's evaluation as beautiful or not beautiful is not only related to the symmetry of her proportions but depends on whether this integrity suggests potential sexual possibilities, and only through this do carnal feelings turn into aesthetic sensations.
Konrad Lorenz, who won the 1973 Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology for his work in behavioral biology, plays a major role in our understanding of human beauty today. In his work Experiment in Penmanship of Animal and Human Behavior, Lorenz explains in detail the instinct of caring for offspring in humans and animals through drawings; he states that the instinct of protection and the feeling of attachment are similar in humans and animals. According to Lorenz, this behavior is innate.
After these classic explanations, we can conclude that the feeling of beauty differs across cultures and individuals, and that this is not only dependent on mold and symmetry. A person's personality, attractiveness, and inner beauty are effective in creating a pleasant overall appearance. Not only the eye, but also the brain and heart decide on this pleasant appearance, that is, beauty. Our soul, just as our current experiences affect our future, is influenced by our old experiences within us that guide our decision-making ability. Buddha's saying "today is the son of yesterday and the father of tomorrow" tells us so much about our topic. It should not be forgotten that beauty is like an iceberg, and we can only see a small part of that iceberg.
Konrad Lorenz, who won the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in the field of behavioral biology, played a significant role in our current understanding of human beauty. In his work, The Pen Experience of Animal and Human Behavior, Lorenz meticulously explains the instinct of caring for offspring in humans and animals through drawings, stating that the instinct to protect and the feeling of attachment are similar in both. According to Lorenz, this behavior is innate.
The most prominent phenotypic characteristics of babies are their proportionately large heads and foreheads compared to their bodies; large eyes beneath disproportionate foreheads; prominent, full cheeks; firm, elastic, short, chubby legs; and clumsy movements. These features are described as “cute,” “adorable,” and “beautiful.” Baby dolls produced with these features in mind are so beautiful, so adorable. Perhaps the reason a person feels attraction to another face is the presence of childlike features they perceive in that face.
Everyone senses the attractiveness of a childlike facial expression. Looking at that childlike face instinctively leads to emotions associated with a feeling of protection. Lorenz states that in animals, the desire to protect their offspring is stimulated by a physiological characteristic, a sound, or a smell emitted by the offspring. In fact, this is also true for humans. There are signals that create the instinct of protection, sympathy, and compassion. These signals in small children can be summarized as the infantile characteristics I mentioned above: a round and full head structure, a prominent forehead, full cheeks, and a small, upturned nose. While these signals stimulate a sense of protection in humans, they evoke the pure radiance, affection, honesty, and delicacy in a child's face.
However, it is not possible to observe these reactions in an adult's face. As an adult ages, their face changes, their head structure flattens, their forehead becomes less prominent, their nose becomes longer, their cheeks appear more sunken, and as a result, they lose their endearing childlike expression. Compared to children, adults are characterized by the replacement of roundness with angles and wrinkles. This expression can no longer create a protective instinct in humans, just as in adult animals. The contrast is astonishing. The most successful designers and artists are those who best recognize these lines and express this contrast in their art.
When comparing the two genders in terms of losing their childlike curves, we see that women retain their roundness while men lose it. A good plastic surgeon, like a good sculptor, should strive to bring out the features that evoke a sense of interest, affection, and protection, as a baby would have, to their most appropriate form: softness, roundness, and delicacy...
It seems that the image of beauty is generally achieved by the presence of childlike expressions on an adult face. The emotions created by Brigitte Bardot's somewhat childlike expressions were further amplified, especially by her famous childish pout. The childlike facial expressions of Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn, whether used for good or bad, are symbols of their beauty. It is even said that Marilyn Monroe deliberately created a disheveled appearance to project the image of a little girl who doesn't yet know how to be tidy. After spending long hours at the hairdresser, wasn't it to create the impression of a little girl with messy hair, as if she had just come from playing, that this legendary beauty would immediately mess up her carefully done hair?
Men have no protective feelings towards women who lack a childlike appearance and who wish to assert themselves. Furthermore, they liken such women more to their mothers than to their partners.
Women, who are more interested in beauty than men, consciously or unconsciously display their childlike behaviors; they present themselves as shy, sensitive, weak, innocent, pure, naive, daring, adoring, curious. Some women tend to reveal their weaknesses to stimulate the protective instinct. However, what appears to be women's weaknesses are actually their strengths, and in fact, it is a method they use to make men find them beautiful and to succumb to their protective instinct. Napoleon may not be entirely wrong when he says, "Women have two weapons: their foundation and the tears of a small, helpless child."
It is very clear why childlike features in an adult, such as freckles, red plump cheeks, long eyelashes, blonde curly hair, and prominent, full lips, can affect people. But to achieve a childlike expression, it is not necessary to possess all these features; usually, just one may be enough. Clark Gable and Gary Cooper's side-parted hair, Leonardo DiCaprio's messy, disheveled hair falling over his forehead, and his daily clean shave can be explained by the desire to achieve a childlike appearance.
Every person can always highlight childlike expressions. If they do not possess these features, they can acquire them through cosmetic surgery.
Today, beauty has ceased to be an entirely natural phenomenon and has increasingly become a cultural one. Women, who attach more importance to this issue than men, continue their efforts to correct themselves and look beautiful using visible accessories such as makeup, glasses, false eyelashes, earrings, hairstyles, hats, scarves, and invisible accessories like perfume, to enhance their beauty and allure.
Some modern accessories have been invented by beauty experts to mask certain beauty flaws. For example, thick eyeglass frames cover crow's feet around the eyes; a high eyeglass frame makes a very short nose appear long. A low eyeglass frame, on the other hand, can mask a very long nose. All these strategies are constantly featured in women's magazines, without being too conspicuous and in detail.
The saying "30% of beauty is natural, 70% is due to vanity" explains this situation very well. However, the most negative aspect of these tools that help one look beautiful is that without them, one cannot remain young and beautiful for long.
Women's desire to be beautiful is not merely a trap set for men; it is more closely linked to the desire to be admired, in order to be better accepted in society and within the family. Despite significant developments over the past decade, it must be acknowledged that life, in general, is harder for women than for men. Furthermore, just as Native Americans felt strong by painting themselves for battle, makeup instills a sense of confidence in women.
Can we dismiss those among us who think, “Change your appearance, and you change your personality” or “A person adorns themselves because they want to go out”? This is truly very important. Hasn't Sharon Stone said, “I never saw myself as a great beauty, but merely as a good magician”? And when African-American beauty Tyra Banks says, “I'm not ugly; my beauty is just a creation,” she is admitting to being a product of a large industry that helps create beauty.
Makeup has always existed. To beautify a face, it should, of course, be applied naturally and bring the face closer to a younger one. For example, a red lipstick creates an intense color nuance on young lips and gives the impression that the person has a dynamic metabolism. Red-pink blush evokes childlike cheeks. Powder can give the pale, velvety skin appearance of youth. However, poorly applied makeup can also destroy the existing beauty of a face. Makeup can be both a friend and an enemy to a woman.
I have previously mentioned that childlike expressions are important for creating an instinct to protect. However, to complete this picture, how obvious it is that one's voice should also be soft and pleasant, like a child's voice… Can a harsh and somewhat cracked voice, like that of smokers, evoke a child's voice?
Clothes should also appeal to the eye and heart, and have a good cut and shape. A miniskirt always brings to mind the long legs of a young girl reaching adulthood. Colors recall childhood; light colors, blue, pink are always chosen by older ladies. Of course, one should try not to use black.
In the perception of beauty, all sensory organs should be stimulated as a whole: seeing, hearing, smelling, and feeling are very important.
Many beauty institutes, having understood this very well, strive to base their strategies precisely on this issue. Let's look at the main headlines frequently featured in women's magazines: “Ladies, you have beautiful breasts, a flat stomach, and beautiful legs, but are they also firm and taut?” The firmness and elasticity of the skin are characteristics of childlike skin and the fundamental quality of your beauty.
Beauty is priceless; beauty accessories are easily obtainable for wealthy people. It is harder to acquire these beauty materials and approaches without money. This also explains why aesthetic surgery is becoming popular mostly among the wealthy and those whose natural features are not admired by everyone.
I mentioned that the idea of using the child theme in the definition of beauty is a known fact. It is well known that any situation where the child theme is used is more appealing. In socio-economically underdeveloped countries, strategies almost always involve the child theme to attract public attention and raise donations, and to combat poverty and misery. A begging child is always given more money than a begging adult. In Walt Disney movies, which we enjoy watching so much, small, vulnerable animals that can be harmed at any moment are constantly used. The animals in Disney films are a small mouse, a small dog, or a small deer. Have you ever seen an adult animal? Or look at toys. Have you ever bought a toy that is a figure of an adult animal or an adult human?
Another point we need to know is that a physical disability also creates an instinct to protect. Is the tendency among some celebrities not to give up a slight squint, which is actually very easy to correct, and not to undergo surgery to get rid of it, not related to the feeling of creating a protective instinct in the other person, thereby seducing them and strengthening the power of their thoughts? Similarly, if a part of a face is not perfect and that person can consciously highlight the beautiful parts of their face, the eyes looking at this face will focus on the beautiful parts, and the disabled part will not be noticeable at all. For example, highlighting beautiful eyes can very easily overshadow an ugly nose. It is also the task of makeup artists to do this or to teach it. If a scar on a very beautiful face remains prominent, it can prevent attention from being drawn to the beauty of the face. The experience of makeup artists is the best support for a person to get rid of such problems, even if temporarily.
Result
Why is it necessary to be beautiful? Are pride, entitlement, the desire to inspire admiration, and the urge to be superior to others the fundamental impulses that necessitate beauty, as has been suggested throughout many eras?
In my opinion, the popularity of beauty is actually culture. In a very simple sense, "humans are the only beings who are not content with their lot but strive to improve it." To preserve beauty means to improve the quality of life in order to beautify life. It is a known fact that as a result of civilization, human life expectancy has increased.
Here I want to return to a definition we made at the beginning of my writing: "Being healthy" is not only staying away from diseases, but also being in a state of complete "happiness" mentally and socially. Of course, living long is good. However, it is seen that merely living long is not enough. Life should be "beautiful" for a longer time. Just as modern medicine is known to add more years to life, it is very clear that aesthetic surgery gives "life" to these years. Beauty and fashion are outward manifestations of our inner desires to express ourselves. Fashion is merely a stylistic tool for the artistic side of life.
As everyone knows, beauty is not permanent, but at the same time, beauty has no age. It is possible for a person who has a good and beautiful appearance only in their twenties to be irresistibly charming throughout their life. "The first thing expected from a woman is for her to be liked" might be an accurate definition. However, as they age, it becomes increasingly difficult for women to fulfill this expectation. I recall an elderly patient who came to me for information about face-lifting. When she saw my reluctance to perform this surgery due to her advanced age, she calmly said to me, "If a person is no longer in a position to be liked, it doesn't mean that others shouldn't like them, Doctor." How right this old lady was, on her own behalf...
I believe that the desire to be beautiful does not stem from a wish to be admired for one's beauty, but from a desire to be loved more because of one's beauty. In my opinion, the main message conveyed by those who are fond of aesthetics and beauty through these behaviors is actually a desire to be loved more. Doesn't Konrad Lorenz most clearly explain this impulse when he says, "Everyone loves children and wants to protect them. Can someone who wants to be like children to be loved more be criticized?" There is no doubt in Lorenz's theory.
As a physician working as a plastic surgeon, in this work he does to create positive feelings and admiration in his patient, he must ensure the reconstruction of the patient's own old childish expressions, depending on the patient's age. This concept must be ingrained in the minds of both the physician and the patient in a plastic surgery clinic. We plastic surgeons must not forget that we are the ones who have to see the connection between beauty and admiration in the depths of the mind and soul…
ADMIRATION IS LOVING WITH THE MIND; LOVE IS ADMIRING WITH THE HEART. PEOPLE ARE BEAUTIFUL ONLY WITH THEIR HEARTS.