Beauty: An Enigma

If you read only serious news – climate change, Russia-Ukraine war, Trump’s tantrums, Sensex movements, and similar stuff - you may have missed the latest list of ‘Ten Most Beautiful Women in the World’.

Who made that list, why and how?

Dr. Julian De Silva

Well, it was the outcome of a ‘study’ by Dr. Julian De Silva - an ophthalmologist by education and training, who later trained in Plastic & Reconstructive surgery – focussing only on the Face - and has about 10-year experience in facial surgery. Possibly, he is the owner-proprietor-surgeon-researcher of Centre for Advanced Facial Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery, London. Should you like to ‘Book a Consultation,’ his portal provides a telephone number.

Dr. De Silva meticulously measures facial features of select celebrities to determine the score for perfect beauty by using the Greek mathematical ‘Golden Ratio’. He has reportedly published such Top Ten lists in 2016, 2019, and 2022, too.

In the latest list, Hollywood actress Emma Stone with a score of 94.72%  is the most beautiful woman in the world. Two Indian beauties have made it to the top ten - Freida Pinto is third, and Aishwarya Rai Bachhan seventh. Rejoice, India! China has only one – Tang Wei, the actress (not to be confused with Teng Wei, Professor of Comparative Literature, who may be beautiful on her own right) at ninth. What if India is way behind China in per capita income, and nuclear war-heads; it is higher in ‘beauty’ index!

Golden Ratio (GR)

What’s the Golden Ratio? Attributed to Euclid, the father of geometry, the golden ratio is a mathematical constant approximately equal to 1.6180339887…. It is often associated with proportions considered harmonious, balanced, or aesthetically pleasing in art, architecture, geometry, and nature - e.g., flower petals, nautilus shells, human anatomy.

GR enthusiasts find a high GR score in all things perfect and beautiful including Parthenon – a masterpiece of Doric architecture, Egyptian pyramids, and Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa! In his book on GR, Mario Livio[i] traces its origin and popularity over the ages, but he debunks several myths. Da Vinci has left behind copious notes on his works, but there is no mention whatsoever of his application of GR ratio to draw Mona Lisa, asserts Mario. People see what they wish to see! Research can be influenced by a-priori concepts, theories, presumptions, and prejudices.

The ’study’

Since 2016, several media channels have run the lists compiled by Dr. De Silva, but none has raised any question or concern about the ‘study.’ Here are a few questions that may put a perspective to the list.

Why did Dr. De Silva conduct this study? Not for intellectual or aesthetic curiosity, but to promote his business, no doubt. What was the sample size – 10/50/100? Were only celebrities considered? Were mostly western female beauties considered? Was their consent obtained? Why was only ‘face’ measured to derive the score? Why not the heart, kidney, or liver? Why was the GR used?

Can ‘beauty’ be reduced to a mathematical equation? Isn’t it yet another ploy to objectify women? Why should a human be tempted, manipulated, or coerced to compare with others, and feel thrilled or devastated depending on the ‘score’? Isn’t every human unique?

Soon, Indian parents of ‘IIT-IIM educated, MNC-employed son’ may place matrimonial ads seeking proposals ‘only from tall, fair-complexioned, well-educated girl from a respected family. Candidates with Golden Ratio score of at least 85% may apply.’

An imagined chat

A client books a consultation, and meets Dr. De Silva at the appointed hour. This is how the chat proceeds:

Lady: Tks, Doc for seeing me at short notice. Do you think my face needs fixing?

Doc: Why, what do you think? Aren’t you happy with your face?

L: Well, I’ll be candid. I know I’m very beautiful. So, a bit disappointed not to be in your Top Ten list. What was my score, if you don’t mind sharing? Which features of my face were found wanting?

D: That was an academic study, driven by my intellectual, aesthetic curiosity. I’m disinclined to suggest corrective surgery basis the GR.

L: No issue. Tell me which of my facial features can be improved? How many sittings? Cost of procedure is no issue, but I’ve a very busy schedule, you know, and may need to cancel a few previous commitments.

The competent, conscientious doc took several close photos of her face from various angles, and said, ‘I’d study and analyze these photos and recommend corrective surgery, if needed. In our next session, I’ll brief you about the procedure, and show you AI-generated images of how your face would look after the surgery.’

The session ended. The hefty consultation fee had been paid at the time of booking the consultation.

What is Beauty?

What is beauty? Who is a beautiful person?

Concept of beauty has significant cultural variations, preferences, and nuances. There are no universally-accepted essential features or parameters to evaluate a person’s beauty.

Beauty is not in the face!

Had the surgeon-researcher read thoughtful poets, he might have hesitated to estimate beauty based merely on facial features.

“Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart,” asserts Kahlil Gibran.

“Beauty is truth’s smile when she beholds her own face in a perfect mirror.” - Rabindranath Tagore

“The loveliness of a woman lies in her speech, not in her form.” - Thiruvalluvar (Tirukkural)

Beauty and vanity

Vanity is most often a close companion of beauty.

The evil Queen - Snow White’s step-mother asked,

“Mirror, Mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest one of all?”[ii]

She was devastated and furious when the mirror named Snow White.

Snow White was, of course, fair-complexioned. What was the evil Queen’s colour?[iii]

Feminine Beauty 

Classical Indian texts

Kamasutra discusses feminine beauty at length. It is more than a treatise on sex. A comprehensive manual on love, and the art of enjoying love, sex, and life; it provides guidance for success in kama, one of the fundamental goals of life . Inter alia, it also discusses the attributes of attractive men and women. Physical beauty, alone, is inadequate. Beauty needs a thinking mind, a feeling heart, sensibility, compassion, and much more.

In the Śilpaśāstras, holistic feminine beauty is defined through physical proportions (tāla-māna system), bodily attributes (lakṣaṇa), and aesthetic qualities (bhāva & rasa).
The purpose was to guide the sculptors and painters to represent idealized beauty—physical, emotional, and spiritual. Following these textual guidelines, the sculptors and artists captured exquisite feminine beauty in their immortal works - the yakshi at Sanchi stupa, the frescoes on the walls of Ajanta and Ellora, and the sculpture of shalabhanjika.

(A beautiful lady in classical tri-bhanga pose_Chennakeshava temple,Belur; Source: Wikimedia Commons))

Sanskrit Poetry

Beauty cannot be measured by a tape, in mm or cm. Sanskrit shringar poets, especially Kalidasa and Jayadev, celebrate feminine beauty in immortal verse – through the sheer power of words, similes, and metaphors.

In Meghadutam, the Yaksha suffering a curse and banished from his abode, pines for his absent lady-love by seeing her in various facets of nature. In an exquisite verse, Kalidasa celebrates the Yakshini’s beauty through nature.  

“In the śyāma-vines I see your body,

your glance in the gazelle's startled eye,

the cool radiance of your face in the moon,

your tresses in the peacock's luxuriant train,

your eyebrow's graceful curve in the stream's small waves;

but alas! O cruel one, I see not

your whole likeness anywhere in any one thing.”[iv]

(Bold Italics by blogger)

Beauty cannot be reduced to just one or a few features.

Jayadeva describes Radha’s beauty in memorable verses in Git-Govinda. Krishna’s neglect has deeply hurt Radha. To placate her, Krishna sings in praise of her beauty:

Your lips are luscious red like Bandhuka[v] flower; your face has the golden pale hue of the Madhuka (Mahua) flower; your eyes surpass in beauty the blue lotus; your nose is exquisite like a tila (Sesame) flower; and your teeth sparkle white like kunda-kalika (jasmine bud) flower. How amazing that you’re a mortal, yet are endowed with the heavenly beauty and effulgence of apsaras – Madalasa, Indumati, Manorama, Rambha, Kalabati, and Chitralekha!

You are Beautiful!

Do not judge a book by its cover, counsel the wise. The most appealing, alluring cover can never hide if there is trash inside. Yet, many succumb to the easy trap of facial charm. What if a beautiful face has rotten teeth, foul odour, and the mouth opens to shower unprintable expletives in a hoarse voice? What if she’s a dumb beauty - not physically-challenged, but with a weak mind?

A person is more than her face, body, flawless pearl-white skin, hairstyle, expensive attire, sun-glasses, fragrance, luxury car, accent, etc.

A human is a complex being- impossible to judge on one or a few parameters.

If you’re a model, or aspire to rise and shine in show-biz, you may stress about your bodily features; but if you’re happy to be alive, at peace with yourself and the world, and have a purpose in life; your inner beauty would radiate naturally and it’d be impossible for the world to pass by without noticing. A fragrant rose makes its presence felt even when unseen.

You are as beautiful as you wish to be, but you need to work on it. All your life.

Transience of Beauty

But it’s good to remember; beauty, like fame, wealth, and life itself, is transient and ephemeral.

The famed courtesan Ambapālī  was celebrated for her incredible beauty. When she grew older, she meditated on her fading form. This led her to illumination, and she became an arahant -liberated one – in the Buddhist Order.

In the Therīgāthā, she sings:

“The hairs on my head were once curly,

black, like the color of bees,

now because of old age

they are like jute.

It's just as the Buddha, speaker of truth, said,

nothing different than that.”[vi]

Just in Jest: My score

What may be my ‘score,’ I wondered.

Dr. De Silva may or may not take up a study to bring up a list of Ten Most-Handsome Men in the World, and even if he does, he is unlikely to include in his sample a dark-skinned, seventy-one-year-old Indian who has never been complimented as handsome, by women or men, in his youth or later. Not to be put down by such depressing thoughts , I sought ChatGPT’s help.

Me: Can you please estimate my GR?

ChatGPT: Yes, I can help estimate your facial ratio if you upload a clear front-facing photograph.

I did that. C asked me for ten measurements in mm or cm. You may use a scale/ruler on the printed photo or screen, it suggested.

Me: Sorry, I’ve no time for that.

C: No issue. I can try an approximate visual proportion assessment, but it will be less precise.

Me: I’m fine with that. Pls go ahead.

C: “Your Overall Estimated Golden-Ratio Harmony Score

≈ 78% to 85% range.

This would be interpreted as:

‘You have good natural facial proportional harmony with partial alignment to the golden ratio — especially around the eyes — while other areas show normal human variation.’

This is very much within the typical healthy adult proportional range, and is not a cosmetic judgment.

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[i]  The Golden Ratio: The Story of PHI, the World’s Most Astonishing Number (2002) by Mario Livio - Israeli-American astrophysicist, Hubble Space Telescope scientist, and popular science writer.

[ii] In Brothers Grimm’s fairy-tale Snow White (1812), the original German word was  Spieglein meaning ‘little mirror;’ in the English retelling, it became ‘mirror, mirror’, and in Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), it became ‘magic mirror.’

[iii] In the original Brothers Grimm tale, the Queen’s colour (appearance or complexion) is not specified.

Only Snow White is described in the famous formula:

“skin white as snow, lips red as blood, hair black as ebony.”

The Queen—Snow White’s stepmother—is simply described as a beautiful woman, proud and vain, and obsessed with being the fairest.

But no colour—skin, hair, or attire—is given in the early editions of the Grimms’ text.

Where does the idea of the Queen’s colour come from? Disney (1937) gave her a pale, aristocratic complexion. Later illustrations dressed her in black and purple, adding to her sinister aura. (Source: Chat GPT)

[iv] The Complete Works of Kalidasa, Vol-1: Poems; Translated by Chandra Rajan, Sahitya Akademi publication

[v] Scarlet mallow, Midday flower (Pentapetes phoenicea) A bright red flower, often compared in Sanskrit poetry with the color of rising sun or red lips. Frequently used in similes in classical kāvya.

[vi] Therigatha: Poems of the First Buddhist Women; Translated by Charles Hallisey, Murty Classical Library of India.