Capturing beauty

Next Saturday I will take part in a seminar where different experts are discussing beauty and the way to find it. We are trying to capture beauty in other words. I was invited to be a "co-thinker" or commentator as I emphasize that "beauty has no age-limits". It was a thought I launched in my doctoral thesis. I elaborated around different sayings as "age before beauty" which in my opinion means that both characteristics cannot describe the same person. This could be discussed but as I searched for expressions that combined older age and beauty they were hard to find. You could say that combining older age and beauty is not typical and could even be considered radical. Especially as beauty often is equivalent to youth. So why aren't older people beautiful? We know that beauty is subtle and a result of interpretation so why is old age ruled out?

There are theories emphasizing that beauty is about proportionality, symmetry and the harmony of details (according to Platon) or beauty as radiance (Faidros in Eco 2005). But these theories are not age-related or are they? According to Gilleard, who has researched the understanding of age in the ancient Greece, youth was described with the words cute, beautiful and heroic but old age with the words ugly, evil or tragic. Our task is to change this view if it still is prevalent.

Skipping the definition of beauty as being only about proportions I want to discuss beauty as something that is socially constructed and interpreted (beauty is in the eyes of the beholder). We learn what the ideal beauty is throughout life and as we inherently have the urge to strive for beauty, we must be aware of what forces make us believe that we are not beautiful enough or too old to be beautiful or forces that give power only to those who match the ideal beauty. Looking critically on especially advertisements and their truthfulness, make us aware of how beauty is constructed today and what ideologies are prevalent.

I asked myself at which moment I am only seeing beauty in everything. My short answer is: You see beauty when you are embraced by love and you are yourself part of the mystery of love. I will take that as my starting point for next Saturday's seminar.