Chapter 2: Unpacking The Self: The Physical Self

Chapter 2: Unpacking the Self: The Physical Self
Society shapes us in many ways, possibly more than we realize it. This involves:
 How we perceive our bodies visually

 How we feel about our physical appearance;
 How we think and talk to ourselves about our bodies; and
 Our sense of how the other people view our bodies.
A positive view of "self” involves understanding that healthy, attractive bodies come in many shapes and
sizes, and that physical appearance says very little about our character or value as a person.
We have to strive to know our selves beyond our preconceived ideas of who we are.
What Philosophers think about BEAUTY The Stanford Encyclopedia Philosophy, 2016
The nature of beauty is one of most enduring and controversial themes in western philosophy. Beauty,
traditionally, was among the ultimate values along with goodness, truth and justice. It was a primary
theme among ancient Greek, Hellenistic and medieval philosophers; it was central to the eighteenth - and
nineteenth century thought. By the beginning of the twentieth century, beauty was in decline as a subject
of philosophical inquiry. However, there were signs of revived interest by the early 2000s.
The two most-debated views about beauty are:

1. Beauty is objective.
2. Beauty is subjective.
Most western Philosophical views on beauty treated it as an objective quality.

For Examples:
 St. Augustine asked whether things were beautiful because it gave delight, or whether it gave
delight because it was beautiful. He believed it to be the latter.
 Plato connected beauty as a response to love and desire. He asserted that beauty exists in the
realm of forms, and that objects are found beautiful because they are a reflection of the idea of
beauty that already exists in the realm of forms.
 Aristotle asserted that the chief forms of beauty are order, symmetry, and definiteness that can be
demonstrated by mathematical sciences.
By the eighteenth century, however, beauty was associated with pleasure as a personal preference.
Some philosophers who hold this view are:
 David Hume - "Beauty is no quality in things themselves; It exists merely in the mind which
contemplates them; and each mind perceives a different beauty. One person may even perceive
deformity, where another is sensible of beauty, and every individual ought to acquiesce in his
own sentiment, without pretending to regulate those of others:
 Immanuel Kant - "The judgement of taste is therefore not a judgement of cognition, and is
consequently not logical but aesthetical, by which we understand that whose determining ground
can be no other than subjective"
 Francis Hutcheson - "The perception of beauty does depend on the external sense of sight;
however, the internal sense of beauty operates as an internal or reflex sense. The same is the case
with hearing: hearing music does not necessarily give the perception of harmony as it is distinct
from the hearing."
What did Psychology discover about beauty? The Psychology of Beauty, WEB
Research found that a person who is perceived as attractive makes more money than a person of below-
average looks. In politics, voters who are not actively engaged in social and political issues choose
candidates based on "looks" 90% of the time.
These study results can be attributed to a cognitive bias called the "halo effect." A cognitive bias is an
error in reasoning, evaluating, remembering, or any other mental process that is often a result of holding
on to one's preferences and beliefs regardless of contrary information. The halo effect (also known as the
physical attractiveness stereotype and the "what is beautiful is good" principle) refers to the tendency of
people to rate attractive individuals more favorably for their personality traits or characteristics as
compared to those who are less attractive.
Meanwhile, evolutionary psychology found that faces hold certain fundamental and important
characteristics that could indicate a person's quality as a romantic partner and as a mate. Among the most
important and consistent factors in facial attractiveness are structural qualities of the face. These structural
qualities are also sex-typical.
For example, in the eyes of female experimental participants, an attractive man is generally one with
relatively prominent cheekbones and eyebrow ridges and a relatively long lower face.
Meanwhile, male raters generally found women to be attractive with prominent cheekbones, large eyes,
small nose, a taller forehead, smooth skin, and an overall young or even childlike appearance.
Our hormones sculpt our faces. These sex-typical facial features of adult men and women are the result of
the testosterone to estrogen ratio or estrogen to testosterone, respectively, acting on the individual during
development. We are programmed to be drawn to strong indicators of maleness (for women) and
femaleness (for men) partly because they reflect an individual's health (Fink & Penton-Voak, 2002).
How Cultural Traditions shape body image

Culture has a significant impact on how a person feels about himself or herself, as well as his or her body
image. Cultural traditions can either be a positive or a negative influence on body image and on self-
esteem. Body image is generally defined as how one thinks and feels toward one's body (Yam, 2013;
Cash & Smolak, 2011).
People see cultural group membership as an integral part of who they are. Hence, they are more likely to
engage in events and behaviors that are related to their culture - choose friends, media, and even marital
partners from their culture (Yam, 2013; Yeh & Huang, 1996). When "culture" is experienced as a
personally meaningful activity, it is difficult for a person to resist the conscious and unconscious ways
that culture influences a person's life.
For example, ideal standards of body sizes are culturally specific. Since the 1960's, ideal body sizes for
white American women have emphasized thinness. The Philippines is undoubtedly influenced by Western
culture, particularly American culture, a culture that generally tends to hyper-focus on dieting and body
appearance.
Digitally retouched photos are the norm (i.e., photoshopped), and this mentality can negatively influence
a person's body image.
A study reported that young Filipino women were dissatisfied with their bodies that possibly stemmed
from unreasonable weight concerns and extreme drive for thinness.
Does your body image have an impact on your self-esteem?

The term self-esteem was coined by William James in 1800. James presented self-esteem as the number
of successes a person achieves in the domains of life that are important to him or her, divided by the
number of failures that occurred in those areas (The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral
Science, 2002). In the 1960s, behavioral scientists defined self-esteem in terms of an attitude concerning
one's worth as a person (Rosenberg, 1965). Self-esteem is about how you value yourself and how you feel
others value you. Self-esteem is important because it can affect your mental health as well as how you
behave.
Body image is how you view your physical body, whether you feel you are attractive, and how you feel
some other people like your looks. For many people (especially teenagers) body image is closely linked to
self-esteem.
If you have a positive body image, you probably like and accept yourself the way you are, even if you do
not fit the popular notion of "beautiful" or "handsome." This healthy attitude allows you to explore some
other aspects of growing up, such as developing good friendships, becoming more independent from your
parents, and challenging yourself physically and mentally. Developing these parts of yourself can help
boost your self-esteem.
How important is physical beauty?

What came into your mind could be the saying, "Do not judge the book by its cover. You may have heard
many people say this; you may have said this yourself. However, though it is a wise thought from the
conscious mind, your subconscious mind will contradict you, and you will still find yourself judging
people based on their looks on your initial encounters.
Physical beauty is extremely important. You must also understand that you need to know the correct
definition of physical beauty so that your self-esteem will not suffer. The dictionary's definition of beauty
is, "the degree to which a person's physical traits are considered pleasing or beautiful." Take note that the
definition did not indicate "who" determines what type of physical traits is attractive and unattractive.
Why? Because even though physical beauty is extremely important, the good news is that physical beauty
standards differ from one person to another.
A self-image problem happens when your looks do not match your beauty standards. For example, if
you believe that being thins is sexy and attractive, yet you are not thin then you might believe you are
unattractive (even though there are others who find you attractive).
The problem here is with your own beauty standards and not with you looks. To have a positive self-
image and a higher self-esteem you must fix your false beliefs about physical attractiveness first.

Chapter 2: Unpacking The Self: The Physical Self

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Chapter 2: Unpacking The Self: The Physical Self

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Chapter 2: Unpacking the Self: The Physical Self

 How we perceive our bodies visually

The two most-debated views about beauty are:

Most western Philosophical views on beauty treated it as an objective quality.

How Cultural Traditions shape body image

Does your body image have an impact on your self-esteem?

How important is physical beauty?

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