I have a theory, and I’d like a little help testing it out. Without undermining my test by explaining it out the gate (I will explain it at some point), I’ll jsut say that I think that the greatest beauty is distinctive. By which I mean that I find Elizabeth Taylor far more beautiful than Grace Kelly, for instance. To me, Grace Kelly was beautiful in a very “yeah, whatever” sort of way, and she blended in with a thousand other perfect looking blondes.
Taylor, on the other hand, stood out from the crowd, she was very distinctive and unmistakable, no matter how many brunettes you lined her up with.
I was just reminded of a cool bit of knowledge I have about Elizabeth Taylor… I’ll do a different thread about it…
Anyway, more recent examples would be…Angelina Jolie v. Halle Berry … both gorgeous, but Jolie has it all over Berry in the distinctive department.
Males…David Beckham: perfectly beautiful. George Clooney: distinctively beautiful.
That said, please vote on which of the following you think are “distinctively” beautiful.
I assume you’re going for positively distinctive only, not funny looking, so I guess we avoid voting for people we don’t find either kind of beautiful?
I only voted for the women because the rest fall into the ‘other’ category which includes dogs, turtles, and some fish.
Vivian Leigh is my dream girl mainly because I have a thing for brunettes with light eyes but also because she was smart and evil in some ways. I like pure evil in a women as long as it is done intelligently and goes along with a pretty face. Lindsey Lohan has passed the point of no return but she was starting to do it for me for that reason.
Cameron Dias is certainly pretty but she is also funny and quirky and that is good. I could go for her.
Marylin Monroe - can’t pull it off. Fat skank hack.
Julia Roberts - positively average looking at not a standout at any level. She has the cash so she could have me for a night if she wants but the carriage turns back into a pumpkin at midnight. Sandra Bullock would be a marginal improvement and would get a discount.
The two most beautiful ‘nice girls’ from that I know of are Lynda Carter and Elizabeth Montgomery (good rest her soul). I got the Wonder Woman TV series on DVD a few years ago just to see if my childhood tastes still stood. I am lucky the TV didn’t catch on fire. That is the ultimate hot there, I don’t care who you are.
None of these. I find most of the people on this list to be attractive, and while a few of them may have vaguely distinctive facial features, for the most part, they are good looking in a very mainstream, blah kind of way.
I’m assuming for the older selections, the poll is for when they were in their prime. It wouldn’t be fair to compare someone who’s almost 80 and in a wheelchair like Elizabeth Taylor with 20-somethings like Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johanssen.
Anyway, with regard to the women, I find them all at least considerably above-average in terms of appearance. However, in terms finding one more distinctive over another, a lot of intangibles and factors not having to do with appearance come into play for me. That have to be more than mannequins. They also shouldn’t be publicity-mad attention whores. No matter how attractive they are, someone who constantly needs media attention can tiresome quickly.
One other thing:this list was missing Audrey Hepburn.
Man, you really didn’t pick very different looking people. But I guess some of them are on the distinctive side. I might as well explain.
Johny Depp–one of the few guys I’ve ever seen that I though was actually beautiful, at least, when he was younger. (I thought he was a girl before I heard him speak.) And a being a beautiful guy is distinctive.
Winona Rider–probably the least qualified of the people I voted for. But there’s something geeky looking about her.
Cameron Diaz–that giant mouth of hers. Still, unlike a lot of people, I don’t find a big mouth unattractive. (That’s based on the fact that I’ve seen pictures people who just have a tall mouth judged as quite ugly.)
Penelopy Cruz–the most ethnic female I noticed on the list. That is at least relatively distinctive.
Adriana Lima–last because I’ve never heard of her before, but she has the same qualities as Cruz. Actually, she’s a little less ethnic looking, but a little more beautiful.
The only distinctive looking person I saw on there that isn’t pretty is Tyra Banks. I never could figure out why until a stint on America’s Next Top Model where she pointed it out for me–she has a really big forehead, and refuses to soften it with bangs.
I don’t know if she’s the only one, but a person who is absolutely gorgeous but not distinctive enough is Scarlett Johansen.
I do think that nearly all the guys on there are distinctive in one way or another.
I’d have to agree these people mostly fit the notion of ideal beauty rather than exotic.
I did vote for Cameron Diaz because of her eyes and big smile. Along with her personality shes a heart stopper. I’m also blond with blue eyes, so shes not exotic/opposite, which is what I think the OP is getting at. She’s only about 6 centimeters shorter than I am too.
No what counts is symmetry and balance of features. Exotic works while you are young, but I think actresses like Angelina Jolie end up as funny looking old ladies. Right now shes still interesting to look at. She was prettier(and more conventional) when she was younger.
On the other hand, run of the mill models are not very attractive. I remember thinking “ugh.” to those TV advertisements for adult phone chats in the pre/early internet days. They were at once bland and fake looking while nominally sporting features that would be deemed attractive.
I am much more attracted to the girl-next-door look. Women like Kari from myth busters are incredibly appealing. Shes interesting to look at without having Jolie-like exotic features. You might say shes beautiful because shes not a supermodel. She manages to put across her intelligence and nice personality.
I guess I am not attracted to women who are caricatures of themselves.
Distinctive simply means “easily distinguished from others”.
There is attractiveness which is rather generic, such as Faith Hill. Unquestionably pretty. But if you put her in a room of other similarly pretty, generic blondes, you’d have a hell of a time picking her out. There’s nothing distinctive about her.
Think of someone who is not considered beautiful, merely attractive: Jennifer Grey. Prior to her nose job, you could pick her out easily. After, she could probably walk right up to you and say howdy and you’d have no idea - she just blends in with other women of similar feature sets.
Ashley Simpson is another good example. She was a pretty girl with a prominent nose that gave her a very distinctive look. Fix the nose, become technically what most people consider prettier, but also become very generic. She removed her most distinguishing feature.
I happen to think her sister, Jessica, is, in the “All AMerican Uber Blonde” category of beauties, absolutely stunning, from head to toe. And I think it would be an absolute crime if she “perfected” HER imperfect nose. That nose is what makes her distinctively and especially beautiful.
But you could never call her “exotic”.
I’m not asking about whether anyone likes a particular look, or is attracted personally, or to rate degrees of attractiveness.
I’m asking specifically and narrowly about distinctiveness. If you put these people in a lineup with people of similar age, height, build, hairstyle, eye color, etc… would they still be easily distinguished from the rest?
