美無定式

Ugly Chinese Girl in Western Eyes

西方人眼中的“中國丑女孩”

She has almost no eyelids， her eyes are narrow， her nose is a bit flat， and she has a wide face. In China， most people consider her to be ugly， but on European catwalks， LvYan is hot property.

睫毛不長，小瞇眼兒，鼻子有點塌，扁臉。在大多數中國人看來，呂燕跟美女這個詞根本不沾邊。但在歐洲的T型臺上，她卻紅得發紫。

LvYan is just one of many examples showcasing how perception of beauty differs across cultures， and across time. In Africa， men love a woman with a very large bottom. In Asia， men like a woman with a small bottom. In Europe， they like something in between. In 15th century Europe， fat women were highly desirable. Today， the athletic woman is in vogue. In the middle ages in China， small eyes were what men looked for， but today’s Chinese television shows that larger eyes dominate the discerning gentleman's conceptions of beauty. In western countries， darker， tanned skin is considered attractive， while in Asia women go to great lengths to attain a lighter complexion.

不同的文化，不同的時代，人們對于美的理解也不盡相同，而呂燕也只不過是眾多例子中的一個。比如，非洲的男人迷戀臀部豐滿的女人，亞洲男人則偏愛小巧的臀部，而歐洲的男士對異性臀部的要求則比較折中。15世紀的歐洲，體態豐滿的女子受人追捧。而今天，運動美女更受歡迎。在封建社會的中國，細眉細眼曾是古典美女的標準。而如今，電視節目里忽閃忽閃的大眼睛們正重新詮釋著美麗。在西方國家，人人都想擁有健康的古銅色肌膚。但亞洲女性卻堅信一白遮三丑。

Symmetry or Asymmetry?

勻稱之美

Because different cultures have different conceptions of beauty it is difficult to say that a lady is beautiful and expect everyone in the world to agree. A woman that is considered ugly in China may be considered gorgeous in other countries， and vice versa. So where does the definition of beauty come from and is there any form of beauty that is commonly appreciated everywhere?

因為不同的文化對美的理解不同，所以很難選出一位絕世美女，讓全世界人民都跪倒在其石榴裙下。中國的丑女出口到了別國，可能就成了當地的萬人迷了。反之亦然。那么到底是誰在定義美麗呢，這世間究竟有沒有一種美能夠得到普遍的認可？

The ancient Greeks tried to define universal beauty using mathematics. The philosopher Plato wrote of \"golden ratios\" which proposed the width of an ideal face should be two-thirds its length， while a nose would be no longer than the distance between the eyes. The idea of golden ratios proved persuasive across time. So much so， it inspired architects and artists for centuries to come. Modern psychological research， however， suggests that many bodies and faces considered beautiful don't follow golden ratios.

古希臘人曾經試圖用數學來定義美。哲學家柏拉圖曾提出過一個“黃金比例”。按照這一比例，柏拉圖認為完美的面龐，其寬度應該是其長度的三分之二，而鼻子則不應長于兩眼之間的距離。黃金比例被后世之人奉為經典。以至于千百年以來的建筑和藝術大師們皆從中找尋靈感。但現代心理學的研究則表明，許多人們心目中的優美體態和姣好面容并不符合黃金比例。……