Philosophy Discussion Forums

This is just out of fun curiosity. After you vote, leave the reason why you think so. If you didnt like the options, leave a reason.
for example:
i voted female because while the male body represents the journey, work, effort, the female body traditionally holds the place for the destination. The female body classically is depicted as a vision of serenity, the feeling that every individual feels when they have completed a goal or an objective.

As a heterosexual male, the female body is more aesthetically pleasing to me.

As an artist, hwoever, I find depictions of both male and female bodies equally capable of providing aesthetic pleasure.

How beautiful the body is depends upon how sexy or how athletic it is.Or, more rarely, how symbolic it is of human conditions e.g.see Rembrandt.

The OP's opinion is interesting to me because of the particular yin yang type symbolism that is implied by the OP.I like this particular symbolism which seems to me to be implicit in Genesis as well as in Taoism.It is in Greek legend too: for instance the story of Danae and her impregnation by Zeus, there is a famous painting of this event but I forget who the painter was.

Aesthetics has as little to do with "beauty" as it has to do with sexuality. All or any kind of human figure can be investigated and executed during a work of art. A figurative artist need only remain challenged to continue improving . Perceived idealistic anatomy can fail as easily as any malproportioned and rigid mannequin. Once the maximum subjectivity has been accomplished, in regards to the creative impulse - aesthetics, the artmaker will decide upon the nature of the figure to be pursued.

And if we are able to approach this from the standpoint of a viewer, as opposed to a maker, then it will require a sublime OBjectivity. And then it might be the case that the raw formalities of line, mass, contour, texture and shape are to be considered. In which case one is always looking at wriggling gristle...this "thing" could be interesting in MANY different visual conditions.

This poll seems to be addressing the question of which we find more attractive. In which case, nature, popular culture ans sexuality will decide...not aesthetics.

In order to arrive at a truthful answer, one would have to throw all cultural conditioning out the window. In some tribes the woman with the longest neck would be considered most attractive. Do we really choose what we naturally find attractive or is it programming?

Earthchild is right of course. However I think that e.g. the woman with the longest neck is thought to be desirable is not what we mean by beauty, but more a sign that the owner of the woman with the longest neck can afford to display his wealth by supporting such a comparatively useless object as the woman with the longest neck. Similar examples are the most corsetted Victorian woman, and the most deformed-footed Chinese woman.

I think of beauty as going beyond mere desirability to a metaphysical category, or at least a generally human and genderless set of rules for aesthetic pleasure and/or truth.

Earthchild1 wrote:In order to arrive at a truthful answer, one would have to throw all cultural conditioning out the window. In some tribes the woman with the longest neck would be considered most attractive. Do we really choose what we naturally find attractive or is it programming?

Numerous cross-cultural studies have shown that there seem to be some standards for beauty that are shared by all human beings, regardless of culture, education, economic status, etc.

Yes, there are specific variants, such as elongation of the neck, or the fact that female breasts are considered sexual almost exclusively in "developed" regions such as America and Europe.

But, symmetry, smooth unbroken skin (an overall appearance of health) are considered attractive almost universally...

As a heterosexual female, I do find the male body appealing. But I typically draw more female nudes. Especially fairies and mermaids nude. It just seems that the female body is not only more easier for me to draw; but is also an effective strategy. The female form in art seems to have more of an impact than that of the male form. I've taken a notice that many female nudes are viewed more often by both genders. The female form has some kind of effectiveness that seems to bring out more elements of beauty in art. Whereas male nudes are more of a reflection of masculinity. So more female nudes are probably more popular in art due to the beauty effect.

As an amature artist I must say I find the female body the most exciting to portray, with the curves and what not.
The female body is in general more appealing to me, I don't know why.

I'm a straight female, so it probably doesn't have to do with my sexuality. Also I've seen more beautiful women than men in my life, and that might have influenced my way of looking at it.

I would say that only connection of both forms can show the real beauty and harmony.