Preface

**Section 3 Cultural and Gender Expectations in the Perception**

Chapter 8 **Beauty, Body Image, and the Media 145**

**the Female Athlete 159**

**Perception of Beauty 173**

**and Femininity 189** Fatma Zehra Fidan

Chapter 11 **The Islamic Veil, the Domestic Environment,**

Brown

Chapter 9 **Beauty and the Beast: Perception of Beauty for**

Chapter 10 **A Plastic Surgeon's Perspective on Stereotyping and the**

**Section 4 Mindful Meditation and the Perception of Beauty 205**

Chapter 12 **Mindfulness Meditation and the Perception of Beauty: Implications for an Ecological Well-Being 207** Álvaro I. Langer, Carlos Schmidt and Edwin Krogh

Johanna D'Agostino and Marek Dobke

Chapter 7 **Differential Trajectories in the Development of Attractiveness Biases Toward Female and Male Targets 125** Jennifer L. Rennels and Kirsty M. Kulhanek

Jennifer S. Mills, Amy Shannon and Jacqueline Hogue

Sharon K. Stoll, Heather VanMullem, Nicole Ballestero and Lisa

**of Beauty 123**

**VI** Contents

I will admit that I had a certain bias when I agreed to edit this book, *Perception of Beauty*. As a psychiatrist working in the field of eating disorders, I am often drawn into discussions on societal considerations of beauty. I recently heard a program on BBC Outlook that examined "The Perfect Body." Former model, Victoire Dauxerre, discussed messages that she was giv‐ en within the fashion industry that propelled her toward an eating disorder. Messages are given to all of us on a daily basis, which raise questions as to how we are perceived. In many advertisements and other media outlets, happiness is linked with beauty (and often thin‐ ness). Many of my clients believe that if they aren't happy it is because they are not thin enough. They equate themselves with a very external view of beauty and accomplishment. These talented individuals (many of them young women) find it difficult to define their unique talents or identify things that they like about themselves. They worry about how people perceive them, and since that is often through the external, they agonize over every aspect of their appearance.

An additional challenge for individuals struggling with eating disorders is that their percep‐ tions of their appearances are distorted. They see themselves as larger than they really are, and in our weight-stigmatizing world, this brings even more discomfort. One woman whom I work with weighs less than 100 pounds but is convinced that she will break the exam table when she sits on it. Her perception of herself is affected by her illness. So whether it is through accurate interpretation of expectations communicated to women or their own dis‐ torted views of their bodies, perception of beauty is a constant challenge that I try to help others tackle. A number of the chapters of this book consider judgments made of women and how that affects their overall perception of beauty.

Yet once the chapter proposals came in, it started to become clear that there are many other aspects that can be considered within *The Perception of Beauty.* In my work within medical humanities and with medical and graduate students, I often look at perceptions related to communication, especially between doctors and patients. While these instances are not di‐ rectly affected or defined by beauty, they highlight how differently the same encounter can be perceived by two people. Many of the chapters that I reviewed looked at perception, ex‐ pectation, and "rules" that can govern how we perceive images around us.

Within the submissions, I found so many interesting aspects related to the perception of beauty, and I learned so much. I hope that the reader has that same delighted experience of dropping into the world of someone else's expertise and having the chance to view life and our environment in a new way. The book includes 12 chapters. I toyed with how to group them and ended up creating four sections, which I will briefly describe. There is an overlap in themes within the chapters, and some could have easily secured a place in a different section. That is part of the delight, seeing how life and beauty tie to the spiritual, to rules, to culture, and to our own selves.

Chapter 1 raises the question of what is meant by beauty. Is beauty a feature of the object or our own perception? Using developmental stages, the author takes the reader on a journey that considers individual and cultural growth through the ages. This journey of the "I" is toward greater appreciation of the beauty that surrounds us. Chapter 2 takes the reader on an adventure through the evolution of Byzantine art and examines the different categories of saints and how their identities are defined by their physical attributes. Chapter 3 exam‐ ines the naked human body in art as defined by modern advertisements. The author works to encourage viewing the body as a part of soulful and compassionate caring rather than as an object to be exploited and lusted after. The second section of the book moves from the spiritual to rules that work to define beauty. However, in Chapter 4, as the author looks at interior design, not only are rules offered for consideration but also the concept that our own responses to space help in defining beauty. Chapter 5 delves into neuroesthetics and neuroscience within the framework of philosophical order to identify how we perceive and define beauty. Chapter 6 develops computational methods to design a photo beauty meas‐ urement system, which can distinguish photo aesthetics—defining amateur vs. professional photographs. Within the third section, authors consider social and cultural issues as we per‐ ceive and define beauty. Chapter 7 allows for a continuation of the discussion of neuro‐ science as the authors examine differential trajectories related to attractiveness biases as children learn to recognize male and female features. This attractiveness bias is explored within elements of culture through the next chapters. Chapter 8 focuses on the role of mass media in peoples' perceptions of beauty. Chapter 9 takes the reader into the world of female athletes as they explore the experience of four different athletes over four decades and their experience of how beauty is perceived and manipulated through language. Chapter 10 ex‐ plores the challenge of stereotyping and biases as related to culture and diversity in the field of plastic surgery. Chapter 11 takes readers behind the Islamic veil and helps readers under‐ stand how cultural and religious roles affect not only a perception of beauty in society but also within one's own family and home. Chapter 12 allows readers to circle back and con‐ template themselves and the world, their perceptions and expectations, their identities, and ability to de-identify from their static self to connect with a larger freedom and sense of well-being.

As the expression goes, "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder," the authors ask us to consid‐ er whether the perception of beauty has been defined by our genetics and culture over the years—has it grown and changed? Do certain neural connections define our emotional reac‐ tions to beauty? Does beauty follow any rules or laws? Can the aspiration toward beauty be detrimental? Or can we divorce ourselves from dictates and sink into a mindful connection with our internal beauty? Will this contemplative lens allow us to move past expectations, rules, and roles and develop a kinship with nature, art, and beauty? On this journey, we will no longer define beauty by what we see with our eyes, but what we as an "I" connect with on a deeper level. We can move from the superficial where "beauty is only skin deep" to an intense appreciation of beauty in all of its variations in nature, art, and life.

Happy reading.

**Martha Peaslee Levine, MD**

Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Humanities Penn State College of Medicine, USA **Spiritual Nature in the Perception of Beauty**

Chapter 1 raises the question of what is meant by beauty. Is beauty a feature of the object or our own perception? Using developmental stages, the author takes the reader on a journey that considers individual and cultural growth through the ages. This journey of the "I" is toward greater appreciation of the beauty that surrounds us. Chapter 2 takes the reader on an adventure through the evolution of Byzantine art and examines the different categories of saints and how their identities are defined by their physical attributes. Chapter 3 exam‐ ines the naked human body in art as defined by modern advertisements. The author works to encourage viewing the body as a part of soulful and compassionate caring rather than as an object to be exploited and lusted after. The second section of the book moves from the spiritual to rules that work to define beauty. However, in Chapter 4, as the author looks at interior design, not only are rules offered for consideration but also the concept that our own responses to space help in defining beauty. Chapter 5 delves into neuroesthetics and neuroscience within the framework of philosophical order to identify how we perceive and define beauty. Chapter 6 develops computational methods to design a photo beauty meas‐ urement system, which can distinguish photo aesthetics—defining amateur vs. professional photographs. Within the third section, authors consider social and cultural issues as we per‐ ceive and define beauty. Chapter 7 allows for a continuation of the discussion of neuro‐ science as the authors examine differential trajectories related to attractiveness biases as children learn to recognize male and female features. This attractiveness bias is explored within elements of culture through the next chapters. Chapter 8 focuses on the role of mass media in peoples' perceptions of beauty. Chapter 9 takes the reader into the world of female athletes as they explore the experience of four different athletes over four decades and their experience of how beauty is perceived and manipulated through language. Chapter 10 ex‐ plores the challenge of stereotyping and biases as related to culture and diversity in the field of plastic surgery. Chapter 11 takes readers behind the Islamic veil and helps readers under‐ stand how cultural and religious roles affect not only a perception of beauty in society but also within one's own family and home. Chapter 12 allows readers to circle back and con‐ template themselves and the world, their perceptions and expectations, their identities, and ability to de-identify from their static self to connect with a larger freedom and sense of

As the expression goes, "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder," the authors ask us to consid‐ er whether the perception of beauty has been defined by our genetics and culture over the years—has it grown and changed? Do certain neural connections define our emotional reac‐ tions to beauty? Does beauty follow any rules or laws? Can the aspiration toward beauty be detrimental? Or can we divorce ourselves from dictates and sink into a mindful connection with our internal beauty? Will this contemplative lens allow us to move past expectations, rules, and roles and develop a kinship with nature, art, and beauty? On this journey, we will no longer define beauty by what we see with our eyes, but what we as an "I" connect with on a deeper level. We can move from the superficial where "beauty is only skin deep" to an

**Martha Peaslee Levine, MD**

Penn State College of Medicine, USA

Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Humanities

intense appreciation of beauty in all of its variations in nature, art, and life.

well-being.

VIII Preface

Happy reading.

**Provisional chapter**
