What makes a woman beautiful?

[Marissa Lily]

Women always want to be attractive and be considered beautiful (i think most would consider that a better compliment than "hot"). The question is, what is beauty anyway? I do have to say that Dove's "Campaign for Real Beauty" ads are good at trying to get that message out that beauty comes in many forms. I think pin-up is the epitome of that, really embracing femininity and the female form in general. I have noticed that men seem to find many more things beautiful about women than we do ourselves. So everyone, chime in with your thoughts, what is beautiful to you?

[Roxy Tart {PL Team / Comm. Mgr}]

I think that in order to be beautiful you have to have a beautiful personality. Even if your features are perfect, being mean and nasty to others makes you ugly. That being said, looks are important too. Did anyone watch True Beauty the other night? They had a doctor scientifically measure the contestants features and rated them on a scale from 1-100. It's now science that tells us how petty we are. LOL. It was interesting.

[Marissa Lily]

I wish I had seen that, that sounds interesting (and bad but whatever...)

Roxy Tart said:

I think that in order to be beautiful you have to have a beautiful personality. Even if your features are perfect, being mean and nasty to others makes you ugly. That being said, looks are important too. Did anyone watch True Beauty the other night? They had a doctor scientifically measure the contestants features and rated them on a scale from 1-100. It's now science that tells us how petty we are. LOL. It was interesting.

[Infamous Nina Nightshade]

Hmmmm... You raise a great question Marissa... As a bellydance instructor, I talk a lot with women about how to show off their own personal beauty. That what make a good dancer is the way they carry themselves. Confidence, open posturing, being aware of body lines at all times. I think a beautiful woman is one who puts herself together well and gives an air of confidence, regardless of size, body flaws, etc... We all have them, it's how we handle them that matters.

[Betty Red {PL Team / Madam}]

Beauty is more then a pretty face and a size two waist, it's more then the perfect hair or perfect skin, it's more then how flat your stomach is or how slender your legs are. It's so sad to me that society has such an opinion on what really is beautiful, so what if someone gets photoshopped a little more then you, or that someone is a little curvier or a little thinner then you...that's not what makes someone beautiful.

Beauty is you. Everyone is beautiful in their own way - and anyone who tells you otherwise has a pretty shallow look at life.

[Poppy Fields]

I think that there is very little in the world that is truly "ugly". Absolutely what is inside (spite, cruelty etc.) will show on the outside in a repulsive way, but in general, everyone is beautiful. I grew up surrounded by art and have worked with bodies as an artist and as a clothing designer-constructor and so I guess I look at the "meat" a little differently... Hmm, you can probably divide "beautiful women" into 3 categories:

1. Candy: eye-catching, striking, conventional, but they don't hold your attention
2. Jaw-breakers: the timeless beauties who we keep coming back to as ideals, the ones artists have been drawing for centuries, the "goddesses" (Women in Art - 500 years of female portraits in western art. Look at the general features and you'll see it's the same woman being painted over and over again. Fascinating!)
3. Storytellers: bodies with meaning and history, trials and triumphs, fat rolls and visible bone structure, scars and bumps and wrinkles! These are the exciting ones that hold your attention, that make you want to know more. I enjoy the challenge that these bodies present to me as a 2D and 3D artist.

I think all 3 types are necessary to satisfy different needs that we all have. Unfortunately, we tend to focus far too much on #1. This is one of the reasons that pinup photography is such a powerful tool: a wider range of women feel that they can pull it off, and the results encourage even more women to do the same. After doing my first shoot this past weekend, I can't BELIEVE that that is me in some of my shots!

So there you have it: we pinup fans aren't just crazy retrophiles; we're making the world a better place ;)

[Wink Holliday]

It's so very true that beauty isn't skin deep, but we're a bunch of folks who make our living from visual cues without the benefit of meeting-and-greeting everyone. That being said, I think it's still possible to share your inner essence without speaking a word:
Back in college, there was one model in my figure drawing classes who wasn't "beautiful" by conventional definitions, but she was without a doubt my favorite model to draw, and all these years later, she's the only one I still think about. Roll upon roll of fat, and one very deep scar (never figured out from what, and conversation wasn't encouraged), her body was a road map of the life she lived. I loved how she held herself, and that she had no qualms about standing naked in front of a room full of people. Pepper's obvious confidence is what made her so beautiful to me. All those rolls were fun to draw, too!

[Edson Carlos]

I want to rephrase this question, because beautiful is hmmm an ideal that will be argued forever. I like to think that women have things that make them attractive. As in they attract the opposite sex....

fat rolls, perfect feet, perfect lips, black hair, blond hair, blue eyes, green eyes, brown eyes, white skin, olive skin, long nails, short nails, bangs, no bangs, glasses, no glasses, ass, boobs, muscles, thick, ..etc, every single woman in this universe has extremely attractive features about her that jillions of people in the world get apeshit hot over....all I can say is, WORK IT, feel confident, you are a beautiful you.

I'm a very picky guy, and i think hot is set of attractive features, but there is another picky guy who things an entirely opposite set of features is hot and mine are f****** nasty. Seewhatimeanjellybeans?

Welcome to the Pinup Lifestyle, possibly one of the most open and accepting styles of "sexiness" you can fathom. Keep it alive.

[Delyssia LaBelle {Madam}]

go girl! thats right, i love what you have to say!
Betty Red said:

Beauty is more then a pretty face and a size two waist, it's more then the perfect hair or perfect skin, it's more then how flat your stomach is or how slender your legs are. It's so sad to me that society has such an opinion on what really is beautiful, so what if someone gets photoshopped a little more then you, or that someone is a little curvier or a little thinner then you...that's not what makes someone beautiful.

Beauty is you. Everyone is beautiful in their own way - and anyone who tells you otherwise has a pretty shallow look at life.

[Delyssia LaBelle {Madam}]

word!
Pin-ups Hair Design Inc. said:

What makes a woman beautiful? Simple. Confidence. Nothing less attractive than needy people, that have to be told that how wonderful or attractive they are.

Confidence, my dear, Confidence!

~Rob/Pin-ups Hair Design~

[Delyssia LaBelle {Madam}]

WORK IT! BA BAM!

Daddy Cool said:

I want to rephrase this question, because beautiful is hmmm an ideal that will be argued forever. I like to think that women have things that make them attractive. As in they attract the opposite sex....

fat rolls, perfect feet, perfect lips, black hair, blond hair, blue eyes, green eyes, brown eyes, white skin, olive skin, long nails, short nails, bangs, no bangs, glasses, no glasses, ass, boobs, muscles, thick, ..etc, every single woman in this universe has extremely attractive features about her that jillions of people in the world get apeshit hot over....all I can say is, WORK IT, feel confident, you are a beautiful you.

I'm a very picky guy, and i think hot is set of attractive features, but there is another picky guy who things an entirely opposite set of features is hot and mine are f****** nasty. Seewhatimeanjellybeans?

Welcome to the Pinup Lifestyle, possibly one of the most open and accepting styles of "sexiness" you can fathom. Keep it alive.

[Marissa Lily]

I like everyone's answers. it seems that a lot of it boils down to confidence and attitude towards self and others.
i started this discussion just for us to get some dialogue going, so keep the responses coming. i think it is good for us to talk about this and i think it is good for women to read, because no matter who you are, you have off days.

I do have to agree that attitude is a very big factor and can turn someone who you once thought was pretty into something else completely. I have a coworker who is so mean to me and is actively trying to get me fired, and all i can see when i look at her is a mean, sour-looking person.

[Anita Fixx]

What makes a woman beautiful? Hmm...well yeah I've heard about those scientific studies that say the face can be measured and rated as "beautiful" if it follows their guidelines. You learn that in art too that the face should have a certain symmtery to look "beautiful". But it would be nice to think there's something more to it then that. Something like "inner beauty" or whatever it's called...especially you have unusual features. I'm not gonna deny it, I know I don't have the "traditional beautiful" look. But then again I'm Hispanic and my background is a mix of everything (well mostly European and Native American) you rarely if EVER see women like that on TV, movies, magazines, etc. Not much representation going on there..well not accurate representation anyway.