Is beauty subjective or objective?
- juliarob25
- Nov 1, 2024
- 4 min read
First it is important to define subjective and objective. Something may be subjective if it is only the subject who experiences a certain feeling, however an objective property is something that is universally agreed and has a definite outcome. Beauty can be used to describe many aspects of life, not merely just the looks of a human. Beauty can be objective to a certain extent but can also be fully subjective depending on the context of the word used. For general feminine beauty it can be depicted as mostly subjective but for the arts and other aesthetics they can possess subjective and objective qualities.
Beauty overall can be broadly subjective as individuals have their own ideas of what they perceive is beautiful. People find certain features attractive and not attractive which is entirely subjective. They may also find the way an individual plays a piano ‘ beautiful’ or the way a player scores a football goal can be described as ‘beautiful’. The latter examples are often more closely related to describing something as elegant or pleasurable in one's eyes, however facial and body beauty can also be used in this manner. These can be associated with feelings which are a subjective phenomena that not everyone experiences or feels at a universal point in time. Individuals' experiences are unique and thus by calling something beautiful and associating it with your own view and yourself then it can be said that beauty is subjective if used in this manner.
One may argue that beauty can be perceived as subjective but the opinions and experiences one has is what creates their subjective view. It is influenced by objective ideals and/or experiences. The role of the media has also contributed to this with an increase in certain features of a woman being classified as beautiful such as eyes or high cheekbones. This perpetuates societal norms which people may start to believe as their definition of beautiful which can be argued as subjective when in fact other people may hold the same definition thus it can be described as objective. Cultural conditioning may also be a way in which beauty can be seen as fairly objective. For example certain cultures believe that fairer skin makes one beautiful and as individuals may have been told this from a young age they are inclined to perceive this as their version of beautiful. These are examples of where people have got their subjective views which can be argued as also objective thus in certain situations, especially human/ facial beauty can be seen as both subjective and objective.
This theme of being subjective and objective can also be considered when looking at the beauty of inanimate occurrences such as the arts which includes music, theatre but also academic subjects such as maths. These can also be seen as ‘beautiful’ by individuals such as one appreciating and thoroughly enjoying a piece of artwork so they may see this as beautiful. The arts can challenge the strict classifications of subjective and objective as famous pieces of artwork are well known for being objectively beautiful due to their life-like portrayals and symmetrical lines. Yet these pieces can be portrayed as subjectively’ beautiful’ as they may evoke different emotions within the viewer, similarly to theatre and people may have different aspects of the art that defines whether they believe the art is beautiful. This is greatly similar to humane beauty thus it can be said that describing the ‘beauty’ of aesthetics can be subjective and objective. One may argue that there have been various types of architecture and art that have been embedded into culture as beautiful. For example, in our society today an old derelict house with smashed windows is not seen as objectively beautiful, especially compared to a modern white furnished townhouse with double glazed windows. Even if one does not necessarily see modern houses and beautiful and prefer a more old style house, they would still call this house beautiful over a rundown, dusty and abandoned house. Clearly there are some objective views that remain embedded in society meaning that beauty can be seen as objective. While this is true, this argument mainly focuses on universal aspects of life that people objectively believe are not beautiful. Whether something is beautiful can therefore be seen as still subjective as the positive alternative option may still not be agreed by all. There are, however, still objective views embedded in society about beauty which can influence but not always dictate the objective views of the individual.
Overall, beauty can be seen as subjective and objective due to each person having different opinions and viewpoints that may have stemmed from an objective viewpoint. Beauty can be defined, or examples of definitions can be defined differently by multiple people with certain groups objectively agreeing on one set definition. However, there are no universal views and everyone sees things differently. Whilst certain aspects of life such as the beauty of a flower can be more easily objective than the beauty of a piece of artwork, beauty can still be objective and subjective no matter the context.
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