Ruskin

Ruskin was an influential English art critic and social thinker in the Victorian and Edwardian era, he disagreed with scientists and thought that beauty was to do more with plainness that symmetry. Michael Vincen wrote "he is able to discern between that which is beautiful, and that which is imitation; between that which is pleasing to the eye, and that which is familiar to the eye" Ruskin believed that what was more familiar to the eye was more important when regards to looks and likability. 

Below is a picture of a unedited photo (left) and edited with glossy mag technology (right) which is better to look at, and therefore more attractive?

I conducted a survey asking friends and family which one of the above photos most resembled their view of beauty; out of 30 people, 24 preferred the photoshoped picture on the right. Was this just because the participants in the survey were all from a western culture and have been bought up in a media started society? some evidence shows that the older participants preferred the unedited photo on the left because their beauty ideals were formed when artificial beauty was undesirable. 

I believe that Ruskin's theory of the difference between something being pleasing to the eye, and familiar to the eye could contribute to the dominant western beauty ideals in the UK. Because over 90% of the UK's population is white, and white is familiar, this could contribute to the underlying racism that's thought to be in our modern society.