Historically, beauty has always been a matter of class, but in recent years, class has become more of a concern. In the 16th century, Jean Liebault, a Parisian physician, argued that the ideal woman should have a pale face with dimpled cheeks and a double chin. Red hair was out, and the ideal woman should have large eyes, small ears, and teeth. This is a more modern view, but it still bears some similarities to traditional ideas.
Beauty can be defined as the combination of qualities that appeal to the eyes and aesthetic senses. Depending on who is looking, beauty can be defined by a person’s face symmetry, age, skin colour, gender, body shape, and weight. It can also be influenced by a person’s cultural background, and can be measured by a person’s appearance or personality. Some individuals consider their appearance to be beautiful, while others are less interested in the way their bodies look.
Ancient treatments of beauty often pay tribute to the pleasures of beauty, describing it in ecstatic terms. For example, Plotinus described beauty as “wonderful trouble,” and “all delight in one”. His description of symmetry was accompanied by references to a merry-go-round of lovers, a woman’s lustrous lips, and even extreme body modification. These are all beautiful qualities, but the aesthetics of beauty differs between people, and there are no universally accepted definitions of beauty.