Most beautiful

'The most beautiful women in the world are from...'  Not many speak on this topic with the ex-cathedra tones of the guy holding forth in the coed beer and wine social event. It was a conversation kick-starter, giving us all the opportunity to both speak about female beauty and to deplore the crude notion of being able to rank it. There were attempts to broaden the field to consider male handsomeness but those went nowhere.

He seemed perfectly serious in his assertions, which spoiled the fun a little because a subject so ridiculous needs a bit of tongue-in-cheek to keep it interesting. He seemed the kind of person who regularly and matter-of-factly drops bombs into conversations.

The right answer, that assessments of beauty largely have to do with perceptions of health, vitality and self-esteem expressed in skin, hair, posture, smile, and levels of energy as much as ratios and symmetries, would have taken us away from the glamor magazines and their hunting grounds, and into the vast realm of more ordinary people, who happy and hale, are beautiful because loved. For me, 'fascinating' is a more compelling category for consideration than beauty.

Even these truisms are banal, like talking about art when it's really only the direct experience and contemplation of individual works that moves us. So it's particular people that are interesting, not generalized ideals. Their wit and wisdom as well as their taste and style are among the many things to remark and admire, over and above what is obviously photogenic. The prospects of encounter are what activate my perceptions of people.

In the meantime, the provocateur (or boor) had started disparaging the women of whole countries and continents, and I had publicly revealed some embarrassingly basic political ignorance, so I packed up and left. The original stimulus of outrage had diminished and no new controversial incorrectnesses were launched.

Still, isn't it a pleasure to look at those around us (as well as things) appreciatively, observing all the possible ways people can be and how exquisitely each individual embodies their own special way.

Beauty, indeed! Broadcast in the world, I'd say, as well as, you, here at my side.