The following is based mainly on the chapter of the same name in “The History of White People” (2011) by Nell Irvin Painter:
In the 1700s and early 1800s Western scientists and scholars believed that universal beauty could be discovered and measured. And if beauty could be measured, then the races of man could be – and were – ranked by beauty, with whites closest to the gods and blacks the closest to monkeys.
Here is one well-known ranking, that of Petrus Camper in the 1770s, along with the numbers:
- 100 Greek gods
- 80 Europeans
- 70 Kalmucks (East Asians)
- 70 Negroes
- 58 chimpanzees, orangutans
The numbers come from measuring the face in a certain way that puts the statues of Greek gods at the top and puts chimps and orangutans at the bottom.
Some saw in this polygenesis: the separate creation of the races by God – Adam and Eve were just for white people.
Others saw in it degeneration: mankind slowly falling away from the perfect beauty created by God, having fallen farthest in Africa and Asia. This degeneration was apparent even in Greece: the people there were nowhere near as beautiful as their ancient statues.
These ideas of beauty and degeneration is how whites came to be called Caucasians: J.F. Blumenbach, the scientist who came up with the name in 1795, saw the women of the Caucasus mountains as the most beautiful in the world. Clearly, therefore, that is where white people must have come from. Which made sense as it was right near Mount Ararat where Noah began to repeople the earth.
The scientists and scholars who were in search of a measurable, universal beauty understood that as white people they would tend to favour a white sort of beauty. To get past that danger, they appealed to the ancient Greeks as the world’s greatest artists: they if anyone would have come closest in their art to a perfect, universal human beauty.
To study that art a German scholar named Johann Joachim Winckelmann went to Rome. He was to become the greatest art historian of the West in the 1700s, so his ideas mattered.
He went to Rome because Greece was then under Turkish rule. But that meant he was looking not at Greek art but at Roman copies. The Romans used a snow-white marble. The Greeks used darker marble and often painted it.
But that meant that snow-white skin became part of what Winckelmann – and therefore the West – understood as the classical-Greek-and-therefore-universal idea of human beauty.
People came to believe this so firmly that in the 1930s the British Museum used metal tools to chip away at the Elgin Marbles they had from the Parthenon. They thought that underneath the darker marble they would find white-skinned people. But the ancient Greeks never thought of themselves that way.
Because beauty is such a hard thing for people to agree on, the attempts to measure it became discredited in the early 1800s. Scientists turned to measuring intelligence instead as a way to rank the races, which in time led to IQ tests.
See also:
What? Beauty isn’t in the eyes of the beholder? Hmmm… I wonder what made me think it was.
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To Abagond:
People came to believe this so firmly that in the 1930s the British Museum used metal tools to chip away at the Elgin Marbles they had from the Parthenon. They thought that underneath the darker marble they would find white-skinned people. But the ancient Greeks never thought of themselves that way.
No….there was an attempt to clean the marble (which Greeks had also done in the past..) because of the effects of heavily polluted industrial Britain and natural oxidation of the marble. Some of the Elgin marbles are not even of human. (Horses, Centaurs for example..)
Were the British also trying to turn the horses “pure White”?
Simply put the marble was originally White but it’s coloration had nothing to with “Whiteness” but of the base material that was used.
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I read A History of White People a couple of years ago. For those of you who are curious and are interested in the gist of this post, I recommend it: http://www.amazon.com/History-White-People-Irvin-Painter/dp/0393049345
I think it’s worth noting that the beauty being compared was that of slaves (see: sexual slaves). This was beauty to be owned and dominated, and the women of all races (since many did back in the time of the Caucasus slaves) were to be compared like dog breeds.
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@Uncle Milton: Wikipedia is not an accepted accredited source. Not really authoritative, since it is composed of people’s opinions…it is “the people’s encyclopedia”, compiled by anyone who cares enough to creat entries: as such is not a recognized authoratative source in academia. I actually suspect that Abagond is correct, but I could be wrong… notwithstanding, I am not convinced by Wikipedia. If you look at the American Eugenics movement of the 19th century and the early years fo the 20th century, clearly “whiteness” was upheld as the pinnacle of beauty, mental hygene and intelligence. Psudeo-sciences, such as phrenology used facial and cranial physiogonomy as markers of intelligence and those who were closer to ‘divinity’ (Caucasian features) and those who were closer to ‘animals’ (Asians and Africans). It is a a load of crap…but no doubt assuaged the “Christian” consciences of Europeans and European-Americans for the destructive, rapine, ravages of colonialism and the slave trade.
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The Term caucasian is alive and well in USA but I have never heard anyone use it else where as a definition of a white person. But then again, US goverment still registers peoples so called races in official documents etc. Which is funny and sad.
As for the “science” and “white beauty”, that is what this blog also reveals: a hole lotta Bull S. As with any so called “science” about so called “races”, they are all bunch of crap. Why? Because there is only one human race on this planet.
Any one who talks about races as a scientific fact and does not talk about different cultures, is either ignorant, stupid or both. The concept of races is the base of racism. As long as people keep up this un-scientifict poop, racism will be a live.
Black amercan has more common things with a white finn from Rovaniemi Lapland than with a black guy from Mozambique. And this is because of the similarities in their culture. Black american from Alaska has more common things with a german from Berlin than with a pygmi of Kongo. Only because of the cultures.
Biologically there is only one human race on this planet.
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To Tabbicat_1:
Wikipedia is not an accepted accredited source.
I would agree it is a flawed source.. however I did not use it as my sole source.
http://www.greece.org/parthenon/marbles/cleaning.htm
In 2002 there was again discussion about cleaning the marble:
http://www.museum-security.org/02/056.html#6
“Tue Apr 30, 7:16 AM ET
By LISA ORKIN, Associated Press Writer
ATHENS, Greece – Experts hoping to restore some of the Acropolis’ ancient glory have decided to use modern laser techniques to clean away pollution from the 2,500 year-old Parthenon marbles, they said Tuesday. Using a new technology that combines lasers with microwaves, restorers hope to clean 16 remaining figures that once adorned the Parthenon in time to display the sculptures for the 2004 Olympics. “It will be done with a pioneering method that is being put into effect — maybe for the first time — with lasers, but also with a combination of two microwaves,” said Maria Ioannidou, head of the Acropolis monuments restoration team. Ioannidou said it was the first time lasers and microwaves will be used together for such cleaning. “We do this because achieve better color results with the combination,” Ioannidou said. After two years of practicing on other marbles, the Central Archaeological Council last week gave approval for the method. Experts hope to begin using it as early as next month. The cleaning will take about one-and-a-half months for each of the marbles in Greek hands. The remaining 17 marbles that once adorned the 160-meter (yard) frieze on the Parthenon are housed in the British Museum. Also known as the Elgin marbles, the rest of the marbles have been long- sought by Greece. Britain has for decades refused to give them back. Greece hopes to repatriate them in time for the Olympics, where they will be housed as a totality in a special wing of a new Acropolis museum. The marbles were taken from the Acropolis in the early 19th century by Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. Past attempts to clean the marbles have caused considerable controversy. In 1998, British historian William St. Clair claimed the British Museum had caused considerable damage to the marbles in the 1930’s, when they used metal scrapers in an effort to whiten them. That damaged the patina, he said. Ioannidou said the new method was safe and could actually help Greek efforts to bring the marbles home. “This method is absolutely safe. It does not take away material from the surface of the marble … It is absolutely harmless,” Ioannidou said. “It is an answer to the British about the methods which we use to clean our marbles, with an absolutely safe method.” “
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hhhhhmmm
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Huh, “Kalmuck”. That’s a new one.
My favourite comparative beauty quote came from Playboy. It was an interview with a guy who had been to every country in the world. They asked him where the most beautiful women were, and his answer was:
“Moldova. The women there are tall with great asses. There’s nothing else in Moldova.”
Which is about the greatest backhanded compliment a nation could get.
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That drawing is messed up. I don’t even think that head shape is close to the norm in Africa.
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To jasonburns
That drawing is messed up. I don’t even think that head shape is close to the norm in Africa.
I agree and in addition have seen paintings of White people’s profiles that look like the African example above…. prognathism seemed to be fairly common among the European royal families. Such a profile could also be explained by dental problems.
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I bought and read the book after I saw Dr. Painter on The Colbert Report, and have ordered three other titles she authored. This book should be required reading in all schools, whether public or private, for all people 10 years of age and older!
@Unc Milt:
Prognathous jaws, as well as hemophilia, are indeed a trait of the inbred. European royalty desired the ‘blue-blood’ with all of its inherent weaknesses, and that still rings true in this day and age.
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I think White Spark Black Fire by Richard Poe is another good book to read.
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The main reason why Europeans thought they were “caucasian” was not because of Noah’s ark, but because the region (Caucasus mountains) was also believed to be a stand-in for Mount Olympus (home of the Greek gods).
Furthermore, Europeans (Nordicists) also argued that the Greek statues were based on Scandinavian/northern European slaves held captive by the Greeks, and not the Greeks themselves. This in part stems from the belief that the Greeks were not truly white.
I did a review of this book on my blog.
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Abagond:
A lot of white scientists and historians allowed themselves to get caught up in the “Allure of Whiteness” without thinking about the pros and cons of whiteness, and so forth. White is just a color like every other color on the planet, but, is it better than black and brown, No? Whites may love the advantages that being white gives them, in terms of power and wealth, but at what cost? All of the hysteria over sunburn, skin cancer, lines, wrinkles, weight gain makes one ponder. Of course, having power is wonderful, but if you’re still not happy on the inside, you’re not gonna be happy in other areas of life as well. Look deeper black people, look deeper.
Tyrone
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A small note: many of the original Greek sculptures have disappered and only copies made by Romans survived. Romans admired Greek art greatly, and made, many, many copies of famous statues.
By the way, many of the leading craniologists were Swedes, who not unsurprisingly, declared Swedish skull form to be the most advanced, pure, developed, showing undisputed signs of intelligense and all that bs…
Boo, Swedes, booo! :p
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You raised a few issues here, Abagond.
Winckelmann was one of the main reasons why Westerners went crazy about the ancient Greece. No other way to put it. It all started with him, the west appropriating ancient Greece I mean. This man never visited the Greece himself, but it was seen as unnecessary.
After all, those brown, dirty Greek peasants were not seen as worthy descendants of glorious Ancient Greeks – but they (Westerners) were! So they stole the Greek heritage (sometimes, quite literally: see the Elgin marbles again), and claimed it as their own.
And yes, this process meant assuming several things:
– That ancient Greek sculptures, temples, etc. were “marble white”. This is wrong. Ancient Greek aesthetics was quite different than what we consider “classic” today. They painted their sculptures, often in bright colours that seem kitschy by today’s standards. They resembled children toys more than the elegant sculptures by today’s standards.
– Ancient Greeks were white. They weren’t. Simple as that.
– Ancient Greece was a western civilization. Wrong again. I bet Ancient Greeks wouldn’t like some babaric peoples to claim their heritage. And today’s Greeks certainly dislike when westerners (or anybody else, for that matter) do the same.
– Sculptures of Greek gods = Greek gods. Huh? Didn’t these people realize that sculptures were made by humans, and modeled after humans? Measuring their skulls doesn’t prove anything. Not that measuring anybody’s skull proves anything.
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Interesting article. A lot, if not most of the statues the Romans copied from the Greek originals were actually first cast in bronze by the Greeks. A bronze statue tended to be the desired form, not marble. So they were even darker than the darker marble you reference. The Greeks certainly were not as light skinned as any of those Roman statues, but their mythological heroes were often depicted in literature as having lighter skin and hair than the average Greek probably had. For instance, Achilles is often depicted as having reddish or blondish hair. Also, the Classical statues are almost always idealizations of beauty, not actual depictions of real people, except perhaps in the Hellenistic phase of Greek art, where things become more realistic.
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There’s a certain funny element of all of this;a racist white guy believed that the most beautiful women came from the caucasus mountains such as Ararat. Mount Ararat is in Turkey, near the Armenian border and hovers over the city of Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.
If you look up Mount Ararat in Wikipedia, there’ s a great image of the Mount towering over Yerevan.
Now, of course, Armenia is the ancestral homeland of one Kim Kardashian.
It seems that many black American guys have the hots for the same women as Blumenbach!
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Abagond:
Chris
Yes, a lot of blackmen are attracted to the “contradiction” of whitewomen such as Kim K. A whitewoman with a blackwoman’s phenotype, Interesting! White chocolate is great too look at and taste from time to time, but it’s problematic as well. Whitewomen who fit the mold create a lot of conflict with blackwomen, which is why they’re a problem. When you have white latin females thinking their blackwomen because they have african blood in them, It’s a problem. They wrongly assume that they have special priviledges with black folk because they happen to look like sistas, Wrong! This is what I want blackmen to understand about women like Kim K……A whitewoman is a whitewoman, regardless. Blackwomen are the source of the beauty for middle-eastern, italian, greek, turkish, spanish, and portugese women, but they’re still discriminated against by the same group of men who violated them in the first place. Mixed whitewomen are cool and all, but they’re still not on the level with blackwomen!!!
Tyrone
Reality Mode
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It is funny (in the sad way) that they went to the Greeks like they would be sure to find unbiased data there. It is still so very white to think of the Ancient Greeks as the Pinnacle of Civilisation and Perfection.
The profile used for black people in the picture also looks far from the truth. I haven’t taken measurements of real people, but it sounds like a gross exaggeration made for the sake of self-justification.
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asadream,
It’s impossible to measure skulls to divide people into neat racial categories, because race is not a biological fact and can’t be measured.
Also, yes, it’s white to think Ancient Greeks had a perfect civilization.
And it’s also wrong to think Ancient Greece was any of the following:
– A white civilisation
– A western civilization
– A cradle of European civilization
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Why did you post this? To show so-called science can lead to insights which are wrong? Or to say something about white people?
Why not write a post about people today who still say that black people are dumber, or at least combine it. Or that there are real differences in genetics which should be taking into account when giving medical services. (Example could be sickle cell) The last thing could give it some nuance, saying there are different races leads all kinds of nasty stuff but denying differences between people with different geographical origins could make you overlook important genetic differences. The same goes for male female research. Heart diseases are mostly tested on males, but the female body sometimes works in a different way,
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This post is great.
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This blog is so dumb. Stop perpetrating idiotic statements that some white people said once upon a time. Obama is president, Michelle is a fashion icon, maybe you should move on because these people who drew these things are dead
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hmm i think the term “caucasian” and the claim that caucasians are the “most beautiful race” didn´t start with blumenbach. to understand that you should read the history of caucasian mountains. first of all georgia and the caucasus were conquered by persians, arabs, turks etc. for hundreds of years. it is a well known fact that in persia and the ottoman empire caucasian women were famous for their natural beauty and elegance. thousands of girls were sold in istanbul every year…most of them landed at the sultan´s harem.most of the ottoman sultans and persian shahs had caucasian mothers…
and it is not surprising that you find also dark people in caucasia as they have mixed with persinas, arabs and turks after so many invasions 😀
if you go to western georgia, abkhazia and the north-western part of turkey (former lazistan, where the caucasian folk of Lazs live: trabzon, rize) you will find as much blonde people as in europe
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[…] The white beauty ideal as science https://abagond.wordpress.com/2011/06/09/the-white-beauty-ideal-as-science/ […]
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[…] fit the aesthetic they believe Black women should have– which is a look seemingly dictated by Western standards of beauty and femininity, you’re nothing more than an unfeminine, “Black male-identified” Mammy […]
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Reblogged this on Steph's Blog and commented:
White beauty as science is a delusion by some white men to prove that Blacks are “ugly” and deserved inferior treatment than whites.
White bigots and racists used science as a way to subjugate Black people around the world and frankly I’m tired of those people wanting to justify their oppression against us.
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people get so mad about this but you can’t look at Marilyn Monroe with those bright blue eyes and soft blond hair and perfect head shape/nose and features and not understand that Caucasians are on top of the beauty.
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@ Carolina
Marilyn Monroe bleached her hair to achieve that platinum blonde look. Her natural hair was reddish-brown and curly, as can be seen in early photographs.
She also most likely had plastic surgery, at least on her chin:
https://www.allure.com/story/marilyn-monroe-mystery-plastic-surgery-medical-records
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Not only does Hollywood present a very artificial, contrived sort of beauty, it also helps to set beauty standards. Marilyn Monroe looks beautiful to many people because she helped to set those very beauty standards. (Personally she was never my type.)
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