The Eye of the Beholder, Revisited

What makes a woman beautiful? The answer to that question varies with the man (or lady) who answers ... hence the old adage that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I've written on this topic, which I find fascinating, at least three times ... if you want to go back and check them out, here are the links: "The Eye of the Beholder ... and the Beholdee;"  "The Eye of the Beholder;" and "Sonntagsgesicht."

I thought about the whole eye of the beholder thing again yesterday when I followed a link trail to this article in Men's Health magazine: 11 Qualities of the Perfect Woman. According to the article, the eleven qualities that combine to make up the perfect woman are (I'm paraphrasing just a bit and - of course - adding my comments):

1. Laughs at your jokes (or in Agnes's case, groans at my jokes);

2. Is two to four years younger than you are (Mrs Robinson was evidently not typical);

3. A nice smile (yes!!);

4. Big breasts (now that's a shocking revelation, isn't it?);

5. Long legs (tall ladies are sexy, even if sometimes a challenge to dance with);

6. Her own career and money (although the stereotype is of the gold-digger on the lookout for a sugar daddy, the evidence seems to indicate that many men like a woman who can contribute financially to the long-term relationship);

7. Small feet (considered to be more feminine and attractive);

8. Well-educated (contrary to popular stereotype, men generally don't prefer dumb ladies);

9. Wears red (much research shows that men are attracted to the color red ... which is why red clothing, lipstick, nail polish, etc, tend to be big sellers. I read somewhere that this is because of a fixation on the color of healthy female ... uh ... nether parts ... for a longer discussion of this point, see my post from April 18th of this year: The Eye - and Nose - of the Beholder);

10. Narrow hips (oddly enough, in many cultures men seem to prefer broad hips because they supposedly indicate good child-bearing potential);

11. Brown hair (I was always partial to women with dark hair ... black especially, but also shades of brown ... which is, of course, why I married a redhead. Go figure).

So, Dear Readers, what do you think contributes to the ideal member of the opposite sex? Inquiring minds want to know, so leave a comment.

And ladies, I love you all, no matter how many of the eleven qualities you have (or don't). As Jean Kerr once said, "I'm tired of all this nonsense about beauty being skin deep. That's deep enough. What do you want, an adorable pancreas?"

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo