[QUOTE=dragon wench]Funny.... usually nobody questions how men can be both intelligent and attractive....
[/QUOTE]
Immunology finals and a 30 year old teaching assistant.
Guys get it to, it's just not as pronounced as when girls are accused, and they tend to talk to their friends about it and make a huge issue of the subject.
I typically let it drop.
Anyways, I do not have the energy to read through the entire thread... I am sure there is some interesting reading, but many times it appears overly elaborate in the ways of saying what you mean.
Humans define beauty as a woman who appears aesthetically pleasing or interesting above others. Instincts have lead us to search for the best mate. A woman may go for the strongest male they can find, but afterwords they will search for the most stable and most capable to provide. Men look for woman with certain pronounced areas, yet not overly pronounced, as this shows they are healthy and ready to bear children. Also, mating habits such as this cause certain smells, etc, to be interesting to some people with certain personalities and genetic structures, while revolt another.
Pretty much, the outside body does not mean overly much. However, it does effect how you may think of a person in day to day life. A person wearing glasses may not be noticed as much, or may fall into a specific category that we try not to use. Meanwhile, a brunette who I find appealing may find my interest, and no matter what she does, my brain will try to find a way to make it sound friendly. This is all hypothetical... I don't actually do so, but sometimes, our brain will do that all on its own.
Personally, beauty is something about being able to maintain yourself, to hold yourself in a way to show that you are not going to take whatever the world throws at you willingly. I do not really care about physical beauty; the majority of what you are seeing is carefully manicured. With todays use of plastic surgery and cosmetics going up, such things count for less and less daily. Someone who may have looked healthy before, may have just had cosmetic surgery done of their teeth to make them whiter.
If a person can see something and express it in themselves without turning for surgery, then they have my utmost respect. If they can decide to focus more on mental activities instead of constantly moving their hair around to make the perfect flip, etc, then they have my constant respect. If a person decides that they would rather skip a class in high school because they have good looks and hot friends, does not gain my respect. If she decides that getting her hair done is more important than work, then she does not have my respect.
If a person tries to make her life fulfilling, and has that glow about them? That is beauty.
My two cents, anyways.
[QUOTE=C Elegans]I'm not familiar with that stereotype, where I live the stereotype you describe is a stereotype for a nerd, not for an intelligent person. The general view of nerds here is not that they are very intelligent, nerdiness is more connected to asocial behaviour and narrow interests. Something I have noticed as a stereotype though is that some people seem to put physical beauty and intelligence as polarised. [/QUOTE]
Same here. However, nerds are more considered as... people who spend more time with work, then they do with other people around. Locked in a room, studying books, instead of leadiong a healthy social life.
If I fell into a stereotype by looks, people would not assosiate me with science. Also, after seeing C Elegans (also, I would not put her in science if looks meant what line of work we would go into) and Dragon Wench's (wouldn't place her in her line of work either) pictures, they are pretty much the same.
Intelligence may be desirable, but it will not replace looks alone, nor will looks replace intelligence. I think you need a good dose of both to be beautiful, myself. Or I could be sucking up to the ladies in here...
