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Survival of the Prettiest : The Science of Beauty

Survival of the Prettiest : The Science of Beauty

List Price: $14.00
Your Price: $11.20
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: BEAUTY HAS ROOTS THAT ARE MORE THAN JUST "SKIN DEEP".
Review: "Survival of the Prettiest" thoroughly illustrates the power of beauty in our world. It is not simply limited to certain societies. Even obscure tribes in obscure locations on earth have affinities toward beauty strikingly similiar to peoples of advanced societies. Most salient is the erroneous notion that the media, especially women fashion magazines, are responsible for setting an unattainable, superficial standard of beauty. In reality, the media is merely reinforceing what humans inherently find most attractive, beautiful and to varying degrees (via clothing, make-up, cosmetic surgery) strive for and find fundamentally aesthetically pleasing. "Survival" evidences how the beautiful win in countless facets of social interaction. Vanity should not be summarily dismissed for having no payoff. It does. Though "Survival" is at times a bit redudant covers all aspects prevalent in the culture of beauty.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The ugly truth about beauty
Review: I bought this book two days ago and read it cover to cover in one sitting. This book puts to rest all of the feminist platitudes about beauty that has become dogma in the last thirty years. Nancy Etcoff demonstrates that the appreciation of beauty is not just a patriarchal tool used to keep women in line, but a genetic imperative that encompass all cultures, societies and races. She shows that while women are more rewarded for their beauty (or punished for lack therof), men are also harshly judged by their appearance. A short, balding guy is as likely remain dateless as an overweight woman. Etcoff also makes a point of comparing and contrasting the differences in what male and females find attractive and the genetic reasoning behind this. Despite the fact that straight and gay males are attracted to different genders, they both share a common trait of placing high importance on the youth and appearance of their partners. And while there is a thriving gay porn market, no such lesbian equivalent exist in the world. Beauty is currency and anyone interested in finding out more about this most human of commerce should pick up this book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This book is, in a word: Reality
Review: I am married to an EXTREMELY beautiful woman -- a woman that kings and princes of foreign countries, the world's top photographers, and even other top models have complimented as being one of the most stunning examples of beauty they've ever seen. Moreoever, I have a deep interest and, thus, am rather well read in the field of evolutionary psychology myself. My point is this: watching the way the world reacts to beauty -- espectially when the beauty is prominent -- is nothing short of remarkable. I often stand back in public simply watching (which is the very essence of evolutionary psychology) the way life reacts to my wife and find myself wondering if she is living in the Twilight Zone. The answer that this book (one I'd like to think I could have written but couldn't have) explains is that she merely brings the essence of humanity to the surface -- where every word that Dr. Etcoff explains is certainly confirmed by me in observing the things I've witnessed with respects to my wife.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: BUY IT!
Review: I checked it out from the library, read it, and decided it belonged on my bookshelf. *If this topic interests you, this book is a must-have.* Dr. Etcoff has produced an exceedingly well-researched book that is written in a straightforward voice. Her qualifications are impressive and thoroughly relevant to the topic. When comparing this book to others that Amazon recommends in related subjects, its brilliance becomes even more apparent; concepts are expressed clearly and it is difficult to refrain from talking to one's cohorts about them as a result! Dr. Etcoff covers MANY trends and patterns so that the reader (this one, at least!) has a number of wonderful "Ah-HA!" experiences!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Pretty Good (pun intended)
Review: A readable book on one of those things that is constant in our lives. I can testify to the "attractive people are given more personal space" phenomenon Etcoff points out. I was staying in New York for a couple weeks. For the first week I was enjoying seeing all the beautiful women in the city, of which New York has plenty since it's both a fashion and entertainment capitol. And then I was taking the elevator down from my room in the Waldorf Towers, a middle floor of which holds an exercise room guests can use, as well as local residents who pay a monthly fee. The elevator was fairly crowded, and then stopped at the exercise-room floor. On to the elevator stepped an absolutely stunningly beautiful girl. One of those so beautiful you forget how beautiful a beautiful girl can be. She had a gym bag and her hair was loose. She set her gym bag on the floor and bent over to bind her hair. The thing is everyone OVERTLY moved back to give her room, struck by her beauty, and she didn't have to signal "please give me space while I bend over" as most other people would require. Everyone just automatically stepped back, deferring to her beauty, and she automatically EXPECTED everyone to move back. She didn't even think about it, nor was haughty at all. She was just so used to being given instant "status" in any situation, she wasn't even conscious of it. In that small moment, I realized how powerful beauty can be.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Nice theory but what about people of color
Review: Some of her "scientifically proven" ideas do not include the majority of people in the world. By her estimations, white people would be evolutionary (on a beauty scale) surpassing every other race. I like the fact that scientist are studing these ideas but they need to be inclusive in their research. Also a lot of the cultural norms for beauty are cultural norms, not just biological. Why don't men were certain devices to show off their fertility? Other cultures do(exaggerated cod pieces). Interesting book but more research needs to be done before I am just on ship.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Somewhat informative, not particularly creative
Review: My feeling about this book is that there was little new here; it's basically a compilation of studies that have been reported on widely in the media. Being moderately interested in the science of beauty, I will usually read articles on that subject when they appear from time to time in the science section of the paper. Based on my very passing level of familiarity with the subject, I felt there was nothing here that I hadn't already read somewhere else. Babies stare longer at pretty faces? Check. Clear skin is universally considered attractive? Check. Etc, etc. The information is presented in a straightforward, not especially creative fashion. But if you're not at all familiar with the topic you might find it interesting.

To the extent that the author has an agenda, it seems to be pushing beauty acceptance, which seems a bit strange to me. She creates a sort of straw man argument about how feminists think that appreciating beauty is somehow succumbing to the patriarchal agenda. Most of the people I know would describe themselves as feminists, and I haven't really heard this opinion expressed. It seems most humans have quite a healthy respect for beauty, which is, in a way, her entire point. So it seems like she needed to create this straw man in order to have a reason for writing the book in the first place. That seemed a bit academically sloppy to me.

The last thing I will add is that the author consistently reports that "glossy" hair is universally seen as attractive and as the standard people wish to attain. People of African heritage in general do not have that hair type and I thought it was strange that she never mentioned that she was focusing on a racially exclusive ideal. Although she tries to point out that she is not being ethnocentric in her description of beauty ideals, there are several areas in which she does, in fact, report a racially or ethnically exclusive ideal as if it were universal, and I found that somewhat troubling.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Scientific Basis Of Beauty
Review: This book is both authoritative and surprisingly entertaining. It is Darwinian - it is the survival of the prettiest and most handsome. The author, Nancy Etcoff, proposes that valuing beauty is an essential and ineradicable part of human nature and that it is revered and ferociously pursued at enormous cost in nearly every civilization.

This book from 1999 shows how outside the realm of ideas, beauty rules the day. According to the author, in the United States more money is spent on beauty than on education or social services. In fact, according to the author, 1484 tubes of lipstick are sold every minute of every day. There is tremendous power in a young woman's beauty.

Also, the facts show that people are less likely to ask good-looking people for help. Our efforts to please good-looking people with no expectation of immediate reward are one way we reinforce beauty as a form of status.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fun and Informative
Review: Survival of the Prettiest is an entertaining read with many different studies integrated into it, as well as some classical references (i.e., Plato's idea of beauty). Occasionally the author throws together many different people's opinions / studies without clearly stating her own thoughts on the matter, or seems to give more weight to one researcher than to another. And once in a while, theories she mentions seem strange and somewhat questionable. But, overall, the book is balanced and well-argued and, most importantly, fun. ;-)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Review from an Ugly Person
Review: I've been unattractive since I was a child and I've always suspected that so much of the way I've been treated by others has been because I'm ugly.

Nancy Etcott proves me right in this fascinating book. I read it in under a day, I couldn't put it down.

It contains the basic "formula" to who is considered attractive and why.


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