Traditional thinking tells us that beauty signals health, but it is also true that Health Signals Beauty!

This is the first of a four-part series on the relationship between health, beauty, and senior life: How do we explain the importance of beauty?

According to a report in The Economist (May 22, 2003), Americans now spend more each year on beauty than they do on education. There seems to be no limit to the growth of the beauty industry, which is expanding in both high-income and low-income societies. There also seems to be no limit to the length to which people will go, how much they are willing to sacrifice and suffer, for the sake of presenting themselves as more beautiful. There are endless examples across cultures of large numbers of people putting themselves through starvation, serious surgical operations, and all kinds of bodily contortions, in order to better meet beauty criteria. In modern societies since the early 1990s there has been an enormous increase in the number of people undergoing cosmetic surgery, such as breast implants, liposuction, bottom implants, botox injections (to freeze the facial muscles that cause wrinkles), nose jobs, and the like.

Seduced By Marketing

Why is this? Why do people sacrifice so much for the sake of beauty? One argument is that we are seduced by the powerful marketing campaigns of the international beauty companies. After all, beauty firms spend only about 2-3% of their sales on research and development (compared to 15% by the pharmaceutical industry) and an enormous 20-25% on advertising and promotion. There is no doubt that advertising is part of the answer: it is so difficult to escape the lure of so many glamorous ads, inviting us to join the world of sexy women and men, laughing and playing on the beach, dancing in exotic nightclubs, driving luxurious cars on roads that never experience traffic jams, and always lead to virgin green pastures and open blue skies.

But modern advertising is only part of the answer, because sacrifice and serious investment for the sake of beauty is also found in traditional tribal societies, places where New York advertising firms have not yet reached.

Anthropologists have documented many cases of traditional societies in which people suffer, among other things, painful tattoo paintings all over their bodies, elongation of their necks and ears, stretching of their lips, and the binding of their feet and other parts of their bodies to prevent growth, all for the sake of being seen as more beautiful according to local ideals. In some respects, the eagerness of humans to find ways to 'look more beautiful' is nothing new.

Social Exchange and Self-Esteem Explanations

One explanation for our eagerness to be seen as more beautiful is based on the idea of social exchange. The assumption here is that human social life can be seen as a kind of marketplace, where individuals expect their behavior to lead to commensurate return. Each individual comes to the marketplace with certain qualities (such as education, personality, social skills), and engages in exchange with others. From this perspective, people will invest heavily in beauty, because it is among the most important of the personal qualities that determine 'value' in the marketplace.

Another, less materialistic, explanation of our readiness to sacrifice for beauty is related to self-esteem. The assumption in this case is that all individuals want to be positively evaluated by others in their group; we all like to be praised and applauded. When we are viewed positively, we enjoy higher self-esteem. In contrast, when we are evaluated negatively, we are more likely to feel bad about ourselves. One of the most important factors influencing how others evaluate us is our looks. For this reason, we are willing to sacrifice a great deal to appear more beautiful to others. When they see us as more beautiful, they evaluate us more positively, and make us feel better. Consequently, for the sake of boosting our own self-esteem, we invest in beauty and are willing to be persuaded by beauty-product advertisements.

Evolutionary Psychology

An even more influential explanation for our huge investments in beauty is the so-called sociobiological or 'evolutionary psychology' theory. The term 'sociobiology' was dropped because of its association with 'eugenics' and other politically suspect movements. Most researchers in this camp now prefer the label 'evolutionary psychology'. According to evolutionary psychology, physical attraction is important because it is a sign of health. The starting point for evolutionary psychology is the assumption that humans act selfishly to maximize the chances of passing on their genes. In order to achieve this goal, women and men adopt certain strategies for selecting mates. Such strategies are to some extent different for women and men, because of their different physiological characteristics. Women can have a finite number of children over a period of about 25 years and limited by the 9-month pregnancy period. On the other hand, men can father thousands of children. This difference, evolutionary psychologists argue, leads to differences in behavior: women tend to be more selective in their partners, and to invest in men who are more reliable and resourceful. In contrast, men are less selective and more willing to rely on quantity to ensure their genes are passed on (in everyday language, men are more willing to 'sleep around' and have lots of children, in the hope that sheer numbers will work in their favor and maximize the chances of their genes being passed on).

But in one important sense women and men are similar: all things being equal, they both show a preference for partners who are more beautiful.

From an evolutionary perspective, the importance of beauty is that it signals better health. The physical characteristics that are most admired in women and men, such as glowing skin, shiny eyes, gleaming hair, proportioned body, and so on, are all indicators of good physical health, and a clear sign that the individual will make a good mating partner. In other words, when Joe and Jean find each other attractive, there is a 'whispering within' telling them that they would be successful at making healthy babies together.

The cosmetic industry thrives by persuading us that by purchasing their products and services we can look more beautiful, and appear to others as more healthy. The whole thrust of their marketing is 'beauty means health'. But in this and the next three discussions, I want to put the traditional argument on its head and to persuade you to see 'health as beauty'. Investing directly in a healthy life-style is the best way to be more beautiful. In the next three discussions we will explore this theme more by looking more closely at three questions: 'What is beauty?" "How does beauty differ in women and men?" and "How does beauty influence our behavior?" Throughout, our theme is 'Health Means Beauty!'