eShop USA > Books > Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty
Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty
List Price: $14.95Our Price: $10.17 You Save: $4.78 (32%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 570
EAN: 9780385479424
ISBN: 0385479425
Label: Anchor
Manufacturer: Anchor
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 336
Publication Date: July 11, 2000
Publisher: Anchor
Release Date: July 11, 2000
Studio: Anchor
Related Items: Featured Listmania!
Editorial Review:
In the latter part of the 20th century, the adage "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" has evolved far beyond its original intent as an admonition against false vanity to become a cultural manifesto used to explain phenomena as diverse as the art of Andy Warhol and the rise of a multi-billion-dollar cosmetics industry. But is there something more to human reaction to beauty than a conditioned response to social cues? Yes, says Harvard Medical School psychologist Nancy Etcoff. Survival of the Prettiest argues persuasively that looking good has survival value, and that sensitivity to beauty is a biological adaptation governed by brain circuits shaped by natural selection.
Etcoff synthesizes a fascinating array of scientific research and cultural analysis in support of her thesis. Psychologists find that babies stare significantly longer at the faces adults find appealing, while the mothers of "attractive" babies display more intense bonding behaviors. The symmetrical face of average proportions may have become the optimal design because of evolutionary pressures operating against population extremes. Gentlemen may prefer blondes not so much for their hair color as for the fairness of their skin--which makes it easier to detect the flush of sexual excitement. And high heels accentuate a woman's breasts and buttocks, signaling fertility. Is beauty programmed into our brain circuits as a proxy for health and youth? In marked contrast to other writers like Naomi Wolf (The Beauty Myth), Etcoff argues that it is, noting, "Rather than denigrate one source of women's power, it would seem far more useful for feminists to attempt to elevate all sources of women's power." --Patrizia DiLucchio
In this provocative, witty, and thoroughly researched inquiry into what we find beautiful and why, Nancy Etcoff skewers one of our culture's most enduring myths, that the pursuit of beauty is a learned behavior. Etcoff, a faculty member at Harvard Medical School and a practicing psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, skewers the enduring myth that the pursuit of beauty is a learned behavior.Etcoff puts forth that beauty is neither a cultural construction, an invention of the fashion industry, nor a backlash against feminism, but instead is in our biology. It's an essential and ineradicable part of human nature that is revered and ferociously pursued in nearly every civilizatoin--and for good reason. Those features to which we are most attracted are often signals of fertility and fecundity. When seen in the context of a Darwinian struggle for survival, our sometimes extreme attempts to attain beauty--both to become beautiful ourselves and to acquire an attractive partner--become understandable. Moreover, if we come to understand how the desire for beauty is innate, then we can begin to work in our interests, and not soley for the interests of our genetic tendencies.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Dissects the science of beauty
The book 'Survival of the Prettiest' is a great read and helps one truly understand the role that beauty plays in our daily lives as well as the reasons for different types of behavior in people. It is extensively researched and a must read. With over seventy pages in references, the author truly knows what he/she is talking about.
Rating: - Beauty is not Skin Deep
The studies about babies staring at people who are definably more attractive are fascinating.
Also the perimeters of beauty are also intriguing.
Rating: - Nicely researched
About: Guide to what humans find beautiful and attractive about each other
Pros: Interesting, very thorough, well researched.
Cons: Almost a bit too well researched, the multitude of facts and studies thrown about can bog the reader down. You're pretty much guaranteed to feel worse about at least one part of your appearance after reading this book.
Grade: B+
Rating: - In the eye of the beholder
Many of the reviews here complains about this being not a book scientifically strong enough.
But even looking at the index you can see what the text is about from the chapters 'the nature of beauty', 'beauty as bait', 'cover me', 'feature presentation' and 'fashion runaway'... since the book is written by someone like Dr. Etcoff, everybody expects the scientific cold point of view evident in every page.
But for many other disciplines the text is perfectly able to open wide a ... Read More
Rating:  - Good for pop psychology, but highly unscientific.
This is a fun read for the layman, but it is not very scientific, furthermore, it is does not stand up to even the most basic scrutiny-don't think too hard if you want to enjoy this one!
For example, the idea that women are Darwinistically selected for their beauty is a hard buy. In all species except humans, males compete for the right to mate with females, but females can ALWAYS reproduce and pass on their genes; females do not need to force males to mate with them. Can you imagine ... Read More
Related Categories:
| |
 |
