Beautiful VS Pretty

Does The Eye of The Beholder Know The Difference?

Look at these images. Which one is beautiful and which one is pretty? Is the one on the right beautiful and the one on the left is pretty or is it the opposite? Study them carefully. Can you be definitely sure in your decision? Are you at an impasse where your brain can't decide which is which? Well, you are not alone. Over the course of human development, beautiful versus pretty has been a subjective issue for centuries. Salome, Helen of Troy, Nefertiti and Cleopatra were placed in high esteem when it came to their attractiveness and in some cases, literally placed on a pedestal. We have paintings and illustrations and statues of these women from these eras that makes the claim for the time in which they lived. Would their looks stand the scrutiny from today's level of social media judgment? No. There is something called body shaming that's prevalent on these social platforms. Somebody has decided that there should be a social standard to what constitute being attractive.

But let's put body shaming aside for a moment and focus on the beautiful versus pretty subject matter. In general, beautiful women comes with a bit of respect to the pretty women. Beautiful women are categorized as also smart and intelligent. Pretty women can be smart and intelligent too but the perception is that the two sometimes isn't a beneficial symbiotic relationship. We also here the “classic beauty” label applied to certain women but not necessarily a "classic pretty" label. Beautiful is also applied to any age as well. It has a longer lifespan than pretty. Pretty has a shelf life, it only last from the teen years to age 40. We have come to EXPECT, and I emphasis this word in bold caps because of societal norms, that women should always leave ho,e looking a certain way. The cosmetic industry rakes in billions for hair care, coloring, makeup, anti-aging creams, Botox injection, plastic surgery, liposuction surgery, breast augmentation and it just go on and on with new ways in making women have self-esteem issues. The horror stories from botched plastic surgery procedures has been a constant over the years or just the way the person turned out after the procedure where the person is filled with regret because the alteration is so sever that they don't look anything like their former self.

And it is not always the men who are seeking these perfections in women, it is women who are doing this to themselves. Women magazines are the patient zero to the culture of seeking a perfected look. In it's heyday, how many women sought out the Jennifer Aniston aka “The Rachel” haircut? It was profiled and wrote up many times in these magazines for women to go out and get this haircut because it gave them a sense of being Jennifer Aniston even if they weren't her. And that is just one example. Multiply the numbers when you have millions teen girls wanting to emulate their favorite pop star. Every award ceremony where the red carpet parade of women celebrities are asked what are they wearing and the next day, the knockoff dresses hit the stores. Being beautiful and pretty is expensive.

But why are we wired in this fashion to look for the beautiful and the pretty? Scientist have concluded that what makes a person attractive is the symmetry of the facial features. The more balance the face is, the more attractive the person is for the beholder.

There is also the debate of what word is better to calla woman, pretty or beautiful? The connotation is that women view the word pretty as a demeaning term while beautiful has more sustainability and respect attached to it. The women may be right about that but don't punish the men for using the word pretty because we didn't get the memo about which word is better. I personally like to use the word beautiful when describing a woman and pretty when describing children. If you're fortunate pretty transitions into beautiful if you have been blessed with the right genes. But that's not a true statement either, I've seen ugly people have pretty children. And in a recent study, researchers at the University of Nevada pay more attention to attractive teachers versus the non attractive teachers because they see then attractive ones as being more competent. But isn't that always the case with attractive people, they achieve more in life based on their looks. As a person with flaws, you may be more talented, smarter, and outgoing but you lack something special that distinguish you from the rest of the mongrel horde, being attractive. So you languish through life relegated as an “also ran” individual not reaching your full potential. And so you question the fairness of life.

We are strange creatures of all of God's creatures. The only reason we have an ugly dog contest is that we are the ones making that determination. Dogs don't see other dogs as ugly, just a dog. They will mate with it regardless of the appearance. But we humans with the big brains, we see something that's not attractive and declare that we won't touch that, not even with your dick or pussy.

I have seen beautiful people with ugly personalities. It's what makes them unattractive. Some pop stars come to mind because they think their looks excuse their behavior. And there are some beautiful people who thought their looks would help in their crimes ranging from Jodi Arias who murdered her boyfriend to Debra LaFave for having a sexual relationship with one of her students and who infamously said that she was too pretty for prison. If you Google 'Hot teachers have sex with Students', you'll get a list of at least 50 teachers or educators who performed such acts because they thought their looks would exempt them from prosecution or at the least, reduce their punishment.

And this debate will move on into the next decade and on and on, the subjectivity of beautiful and pretty and all of the adjectives that deals with attractiveness. The beautiful and the pretty will eventually fade to gray and a new generation will take their place. That is the course of life. I wonder if Adam ever called Eve beautiful or pretty? Only God knows.