# Do ideas of human beauty and sexual attraction change over time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 7, 2012, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ideas-of-human-beauty-and-sexual-attraction-change-over-time/633966 "2012-09-07T09:54:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ideas-of-human-beauty-and-sexual-attraction-change-over-time/633966/41 "2012-09-07T23:02:38Z")
Don’t find Ingrid Bergman pretty but you do like Megan Fox. How about splitting the difference, OP; do you know who Isabella Rosselini is? I’ll include the links, as this message board doesn’t allow embedded pictures or videos. [http://i2.listal.com/image/1378963/600full-isabella-rossellini.jpg](http://i2.listal.com/image/1378963/600full-isabella-rossellini.jpg) [http://justastar.com/star\_img/1235943505.jpg](http://justastar.com/star_img/1235943505.jpg) Poor Julie Bowen got the aging disease; well, she is 42.5 years old as of the other day. All of 3 weeks older than me. But for a female actress, hell - she’s a wizened hag. :rolleyes: We all know [no one over 35](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sof%C3%ADa_Vergara) is sexy. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ideas-of-human-beauty-and-sexual-attraction-change-over-time/633966/42 "2012-09-07T23:14:52Z")
Funny how this is such a personal thing I find women who care for their health as improving with age and “peaking” in their late 30’s and mid 40’s But if women have a shelf life I’ll take a shot at that “spoiled” Susanna Hoffs (53) although she would be even prettier had she avoided the knife. Of course we are talking about celebrities and photo ideals, physical looks seem to be secondary when you have a connection with a person in real life…or the closer it gets to closing time 🙂 Being an avid photographer and a veteran of the movie industry I think many people would be surprised how plain most of these women appear without high dollar makeup artists, ideal lighting and now photoshop. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ideas-of-human-beauty-and-sexual-attraction-change-over-time/633966/43 "2012-09-07T23:23:59Z")
[http://fstoppers.com/pics-super-models-without-makeup-hair-lighting-and-retouching](http://fstoppers.com/pics-super-models-without-makeup-hair-lighting-and-retouching) Here is a link that shows what I am talking about, the style of shoot is very “fashion” based and ages quickly but when it is “fresh” they will seem to look more attractive than styles you are use to. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ideas-of-human-beauty-and-sexual-attraction-change-over-time/633966/44 "2012-09-08T00:14:07Z")
That is a wonderful link R.A. I just saw “My Week With Marilyn” and it’s got me feeling weak in the knees. Have you seen it? In many ways it’s pretty much on point. Michelle Williams was unbelievable. Julia Ormond played Vivian Leigh and I would not have recognized her as the same lady who played Marie Calvet in Mad Men and would never have recognized her from her work in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I have no idea if it was hair and makeup or if it was something internal to the actress. But I certainly am willing to buy your argument. Thank you so much for that link. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ideas-of-human-beauty-and-sexual-attraction-change-over-time/633966/45 "2012-09-08T02:31:29Z")
The following is perhaps the best photo I have yet found of Sophia: [![](https://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f41/Bluxmax/sophia2.jpg) ](https://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f41/Bluxmax/sophia2.jpg) OMG! That is truly a magnificent beauty. I am certainly willing to admit that a large part of her beauty is due to hair and makeup. However, I have seen some beautiful women when they have just woken up and have not applied any makeup or anything else to help improve their looks and they were still truly beautiful. Sophia played Selma in Daymon Wayan’s “My Wife and My Kids” in 2002. That was a network sitcom and so she was active ten years ago. I tend to think that anyone who has been active on network TV and starred in a sitcom ten years ago and is still working today, will very likely still be remebered in five years time. Of course, only time will tell. Just take a look at that photo. Does that photo not truly depict a truly stunning beauty? It seems to me that her beauty is of the classic kind and that photo will very likely still be circulating five, ten and even twenty years from now and this same controversy may still well be active at that time. Here is her link on IMDB: [Sofía Vergara - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005527) And here it is on Wiki: [Sofía Vergara - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sof%C3%ADa_Vergara) ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ideas-of-human-beauty-and-sexual-attraction-change-over-time/633966/46 "2012-09-08T06:41:01Z")
Part of attractiveness is being able to give off the impression that one is wealthy enough to display the trait in question. For instance, a dazzling smile with straight teeth means that you’ve got enough money to take care of your teeth, and you had parents who either had straight teeth genes, or had enough money to put you in braces. Tanned skin used to mean that you worked outside all day, and pale skin meant that you lived a life of leisure, and then it flipped, so that pale skin meant that you were in an office or factory all day slaving away, but tan skin meant that you were on the tennis court or your yacht. When food was scarcer, plumpness was admired. When food became more plentiful, Thin became In. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ideas-of-human-beauty-and-sexual-attraction-change-over-time/633966/47 "2012-09-11T18:06:26Z")
Going back a tad, the women Rubens painted would be considered obese by todays standards but were beauties back in their day. (Possibly because carrying extra pounds meant that you were well off) Also historically very pale skins (Which were considered a must) meant that you didn’t have to work in the fields. I’ve noticed that the beauties of the mid 20thc, possibly because fashions covered them up more, would seem a little flabby to our eyes, whereas to their eyes our beauties might be considered unfemininly muscular, perhaps even grotesque. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ideas-of-human-beauty-and-sexual-attraction-change-over-time/633966/48 "2012-09-12T17:36:26Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Are you mad, man? Those ladies (and I do emphasize that they were _ladies_) were\*\* and are\*\* sexy as all hell. (emphasis added) Even for her most ardent fans, I suspect that after 30 years in the ground Ingrid’s appeal is waning somewhat. 😛 Looking at [Wikipedia’s photo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ingrid_Bergman_1940_publicity.jpg) of Ingrid Bergman, her features seem rather too strong to be considered “pretty”, at least IMO. Part of that could be the lighting and make-up, though: most “glamour” shots of women these days are taken face-on and with fill-lighting to minimise shadows and make the features look smaller and softer. That photo wouldn’t have been taken like that these days. (Also, what the hell is going on with her shoulders?) ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ideas-of-human-beauty-and-sexual-attraction-change-over-time/633966/49 "2012-09-13T23:39:16Z")
> [@Lazlo Hapsburg](#): > > It is no surprise to me that many people do not recognize these actresses by name. All I can say to that is many more people do not recognize the names Mary Astor, Ingrid Bergman and Greta Garbo. I’d heard of Fox, but couldn’t have told you who she was. Never heard of the other two. Knew who Bergman and Garbo were, but had to google Astor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ideas-of-human-beauty-and-sexual-attraction-change-over-time/633966.md?page=2)