Beauty is one of the most controversial topics of all times, especially female beauty. It has always been said that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and yet there seems to be an ideal or a standard to beauty in the whole world. People always say that what is ideally beautiful is simply what has been fed to society by the media. If one will look at its meaning, beauty is said to be a characteristic. True enough. However, there will be question that perhaps no one can fully answer. What is beauty?

Beauty has been by far commercialized. Perhaps all people can accept that. In line with this thought, it may be said that beauty has become something that is cerebral, not spontaneous. Ideally, beauty is something that is to be appreciated once something beautiful is seen. The problem is that it is very apparent that every person's idea of beauty has been ingrained in the primeval memory. Even as a person grows up, he is brought up to have an idea of beauty based on what is appreciated by those people around him.

Accordingly, the perception of beauty has become generally accepted as subjective. However, there are scientists of today trying to prove that there must be formula to measure beauty objectively, this study was started thousands of years ago in the time of the great philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Pythagoras. It was the Pythagorean school of thought from which the golden ratio was first heard of.

The golden ratio is a mathematical formula focused on proportion and symmetry. Scientific researches as shown also in television suggests that people whose faces fit this golden ratio are often perceived to be beautiful as opposed to those who do not. There are also studies made that the perception of beauty starts from childhood as mentioned earlier. For women, it has been said that long legs are one factor to consider in terms of beauty. A flawless skin is also one.

Another scientific finding which relates to beauty is the concept of natural selection. People and animals will mate or breed to someone who looks strong and fit. This is to ensure that the species will survive. In line with this, it was found out that the "averageness" of a facial value is far more deemed as beautiful as opposed to those who are rare or unusual. A study was made in which the faces of many average people were merged into one composite and the result was that of a beautiful face. From this study it was concluded that the average looking person is far more conceived more beautiful than those who possess unusual characteristics.

In reality, beauty is only skin deep and what matters really to a lot of people is inner beauty such as behavior. These are the things that one will appreciate for a lifetime since physical beauty fades away as we all grow older. This is something that cannot be physically measured but can be observed such as grace, charm, intellect, warmth. Beauty cannot be dictated by anyone, not even social cultural norms.