I’ve written before about the halo effect of beauty and wrote a bit about the universal traits considered attractive. One doctor believes they have created an archetype mask that defined beauty-based portions. He created the golden mask based on the golden ratio or the Phi number 1.618. Dr. Marquardt is an American surgeon and developed the “Golden mask” or beauty mask using mathematics and cross-cultural surveys.
You can download the mask below
The phi number is found throughout nature and has been used as a reason the mask is a suitable blueprint to human beauty through nature and mathematics. Who can argue with that?
Despite this, the golden ratio mask is flawed as many have pointed out. The first problem is that multiple different masks can be generated using the Phi number which gives radically different proportions.
Second is many people who are deemed universally attractive do not fit the mask/ratio perfectly.
Thirdly the mask is more geared towards European/caucasian features and does not take into account the variation among races. The mask has been criticized for approximating the face shape of masculinized European women.
It’s fun to use on yourself, but again beauty using the golden ratio is not foolproof to declare someone is beautiful.
What are your thoughts on the mask? Can there be a definitive beauty standard? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
- Bourne, M. (n.d.). The Math Behind the Beauty. Retrieved from https://www.intmath.com/numbers/math-of-beauty.php
- Brownlee, J. (2015, April 13). The Golden Ratio: Design’s Biggest Myth. Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/3044877/the-golden-ratio-designs-biggest-myth
- E, H. (2008, April). Marquardt’s Phi Mask: Pitfalls of Relying on Fashion Models and the Golden Ratio to Describe a Beautiful Face Article in Aesthetic Plastic Surgery 32(2):200-8 · April 2008 with 525 Reads. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5675224_Marquardt’s_Phi_Mask_Pitfalls_of_Relying_on_Fashion_Models_and_the_Golden_Ratio_to_Describe_a_Beautiful_Face
- Meisner, G., YuWu, Meisner, G., Andrea, Priscilla, Sid, E., . . . Window Cleaning San Diego. (2018, July 05). Beauty in the Human Face and the Golden Ratio. Retrieved from https://www.goldennumber.net/beauty/
- Stephen R. Marquardt. (2018, April 18). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_R._Marquardt
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