Cosmetic surgeon Dr. Julian DeSilva utilized ancient Greek mathematics to determine that Bella Hadid is the “most beautiful person in the world,” according to The Daily Mail. His findings are inaccurate and may cause women to feel insecure about their own looks and their personal standards of beauty (Georges Biard/ wikipedia).
We’ve all heard the term “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Many of us try to live a life free from comparisons and judgments of each other’s appearances. However, it is difficult to keep this mentality when social media ranks people, especially women, based on how they look. Ranking celebrities on superficial scales has been around for a long time, taking place in magazine publications such as “Hot or Not” lists and People Magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive.”
Recently, Dr. Julian DeSilva deemed model Bella Hadid “the most beautiful woman in the world” based in terms of the Golden Ratio of Beauty Phi, according to The Daily Mail. The Golden Ratio is a set of mathematical measurements that European Renaissance artists utilized to measure and depict physical beauty. Dr. DeSilva followed this scale to determine that Hadid was the most attractive person, meeting 94.35 percent of its standards. Beyoncé, Ariana Grande, Scarlett Johansson, Katy Perry and Cara Delevingne all appeared in the top ten as well.
The assertion that one human being is the single most beautiful woman in the entire world is detrimental to female’s self-image as well as their relations with one another.
First and foremost, declaring that someone is the most beautiful woman teaches us to compare ourselves to one another. We regard differences amongst one another as flaws. If Hadid is the “most” beautiful, then how do the rest of us rank? This is an unhealthy thought that women are left with, considering DeSilva’s study.
Along with these comparisons comes conflict and resentment within the female community. Beyoncé fans were unhappy with the ranking of Hadid over their favorite female celebrity. Many tweeted hateful comments toward Hadid, arguing that Beyoncé is the most beautiful woman while putting down Hadid for her physical appearance. Some even compared Bella Hadid to her sister, Gigi Hadid, and claimed that Gigi was the prettier sister.
Amongst the hateful responses to an E! Article about DeSilva’s study, Twitter user Molemi_t tweeted, “What do you expect from a list compiled by Caucasians?” Their tweet brought up the issue of race and how the Golden Ratio of Beauty Phi couldn’t encompass women from all different ethnicities and cultures.
It’s unfair to base the entire female population on ancient European beauty standards, which likely favor their own race’s facial features. While society shouldn’t have a standard measure for beauty at all, the fact that their measurements derive exclusively from one culture creates a larger issue of discrimination.
Supporters of DeSilva’s study say that it is scientific and therefore her claims are factual. Given that there are 7.5 billion people on Earth, and approximately 50 percent of them are women, it would be impossible to verify that Bella Hadid is, scientifically, the most beautiful woman in the world. Unless we analyze every single woman, including those off the grid and undocumented, we cannot confirm that there isn’t someone else who is more beautiful than Hadid.
Even if one was able to conduct such a study, its outcome would not be beneficial to society. Women would continue to compare themselves to the mathematical scale and to one another. Having the scientific knowledge of ‘optimal beauty’ would label many people as ‘less than.’
As Twitter user PaulColClough4 tweeted, “For once I don’t agree with science, we should not be telling young girls ‘you need to look like this to be beautiful’ each person has their own uniqueness which makes them who they are, you are all beautiful in your own way!”
Aliyha Gill is a psychology and English double major junior who is tired of life.