Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty Paperback – July 11, 2000

Contrary to what many people think there are certain features of the human body and face that have always been considered attractive, in all cultures. That is, beauty is not an invention of the media any more than cuteness is an invention of Disney (Bambi, the movie, exploited our instinctive judgements of what is cute). Neither is beauty merely in the eye of the beholder. Yet, having said that, both the media and the perceiver matters, just not as much as people tend to think.In this book Nancy Etcoff from Harvard University provides a fast paced, thoroughly researched, rich and enjoyable account of attractiveness. She provides answers to all the main questions that usually come up when attractiveness is discussed. Here is a non exhaustive list, which the basic answerQ: What is attractive?A: Averageness, symmetry, Big eyes (women), large cheekbones (men)Q: When did people start to care so much about their appearance?A: Since the dawn of timeQ: Are we nicer to more attractive individualsA: YesQ: Why are certain traits considered attractive?A: Because they are indicators of underlying qualities, such as health or fertilityThese are rough answers, and there are many important and interesting details which cannot be covered in a short review such as this. Thankfully, Etcoff goes into full detail, and even though I am sort of a minor expert on attractiveness (have published a couple of studies on memory biases associated with attractiveness), I learned many things from this book. Etcoff’s style of writing is reminiscent of Steven Pinker. Both are masters when it comes to referencing a ton of literature from very divergent sources (books, TV-shows, published articles, archeological findings, poetry etc), in a short amount of text, without affecting the flow of that text. In fact Etcoff made such an impression on me that I am almost certain to buy her next book (if she writes one), independent of what that book is about.

I was always a fan of Desmond Morris' books combining elements of anthropology and sociology, so reading the description of this book I thought it would make a nice gift for my wife. She thought it was excellent, and I read through it as soon as she was finished with it.A wonderful little read that explains so much with regards to feminine beauty over the course of history. The author lays out the central thesis - there are innate biological indicators of feminine beauty, mainly having to do with youth and childbearing. These indicators - hip size, bust, lips, etc. - are well known and well tracked throughout human history. There are periods however where certain indicators are dramatically overemphasized and become the dominant desired look - which is then often taken to extremes in fashion and taste (think of really severe corsets or footbinding). And there are interesting cycles where beauty is in being full and healthy, or the absolute obverse in pale and skinny - it's a strange quirk of historical periods.But this is a book that touches on a lot of things well - anthropology, sociology, biology, history, the economics/marketing of feminine fashion, and advertising. Sometimes you read a description and come away disappointed, but this was an excellent book and certainly worth your time if you're interested in the subject.

Survival of the Prettiest explains, in evolutionary, philosophical, and scientifically studied ways, what we find attractive in women and men and why, from prehistoric times, to the Greeks and Romans, to the 90’s.I loved all of the quotes on beauty this book, as said by great philosophers and writers. I now see a celebrity, or a viral pretty face, and know just what gives their appearance star power (big eyes, small chins/jaws, and symmetry and harmony mostly). It features fascinating studies on babies, motherhood, and men and women. The last 1/4 is on fashion, which was very fun to read. The only reason I didn’t give this book 5 stars is because at times it was repetitive and started losing me. However it was still a super quick, great read!I would not recommend this book to a teenager or anyone with severely low physical self confidence. This book makes very clear what is considered most attractive physically. It feels nice to have some of the features, stinks to not have others, and made me think many times “I would just have to fix this, this, and this,” which I think could be dangerous on impressionable minds.