Are people getting less attractive? That’s the theory behind one viral clip from a facial aesthetics expert — and Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld concurs.
However, Gutfeld has a simpler explanation for the phenomenon than “modern diets, sleeping patterns, pollutants and orofacial habits,” as the beauty guru suggested: Our society doesn’t value truth anymore.
The clip — posted by Shafee Hassan on TikTok in May, according to the New York Post — has gotten more than 3.3 million views and 330,000 likes.
In the viral video, which featured a comment about how high school yearbooks from the 1950s “contained [so] many attractive people,” Hassan said it wasn’t necessarily a matter of genetics.
He theorized that teenagers from that era looked older than they do today because of environmental factors:
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“The average person’s face is becoming increasingly disadvantaged by modern diets, sleeping patterns, pollutants and orofacial habits creating a greater inequality in ‘the attractives’ vs ‘the unattractives,’” the caption said.
Hassan also noted that the “development of the face is dependent on the forces that you put on it for the upper and lower jaw,” which leads to an “attractive or handsome face.”
“So apparently we have less pronounced jaws than previous generations,” Gutfeld said on his Tuesday show after playing the video, quipping, “Guess [Hassan’s] never watched the WNBA.”
“But also, older generations put more force on their facial bones, probably from gritting their teeth, you know, and fighting wars and hunting wild animals or dating Nancy Pelosi,” he continued.
“Now, I think he might be right,” he said, asking the audience to “look at the average woman from the ’50s” while pictures of stars like Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly (who, in fairness, were a bit above average) were displayed on the screen.
“Talk about beauty. Now what have we got?” Gutfeld asked. Cue pictures of Dylan Mulvaney and Lia Thomas.
It applies to men, as well. (Or men who still think they’re men — a critical distinction to make given the two specimens just referenced.) Jesse Eisenberg, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill — all of them with “so much estrogen” that “just looking at them gave me menstrual cramps,” Gutfeld said.
But, as he went on to point out, “the media says all bodies are beautiful even when our eyes disagree.”
“There’s been a rebellion against beauty which is felt in art and culture and biology,” Gutfeld said. “Heck, think about how previous generations used to dress in public, to go to a sporting event or take a flight. Men and women would get dressed up — a full suit or a dress. Now it’s all yoga pants, sandals and hairy toes.”
And if you don’t find someone attractive, Gutfeld said, that’s what the left is calling “lookism — even though it’s normal to be attracted to people who don’t look sick or tired, puffy and obese, or all of the above.”
“It’s now discrimination to find some people hotter than others,” Gutfeld said. “Or maybe, just maybe, people looked better years ago because they took pride in their appearance.
“They had demanding jobs instead of staring at tiny screens all day,” he continued. “They didn’t gorge themselves on crap and then blame fat-shaming, and they didn’t waddle around in Crocs and pajamas like they were inmates at a mental ward.
“It feels as if we as a society have given up. Look at the cities and entertainment and travel. Hell, we don’t even expect our models on the cover of swimsuit rags to be in shape, much less thin. And when we’re forced to accept it as appealing, it just doesn’t ring true.
“So this isn’t about ugliness,” Gutfeld concluded. “It’s about a denial of truth. As Keats said, ‘Beauty is truth and truth is beauty.’ Beauty or an aspiration for it somehow always leads you to a truth about life. Like Shakira said, ‘The hips don’t lie.'”
Forgetting the fact that Gutfeld didn’t nail the exact quotes by Keats or Shakira, he did raise an excellent point here. Our society not only doesn’t care about the beautiful or the true, but it openly shames those who still value what it sees as antiquated, reactionary notions.
Being out of shape isn’t just something that won’t draw opprobrium these days: You’re seen as attractive and truly heroic if you’re significantly overweight and put yourself out there in revealing clothing.
Just look at Lizzo, the obese pop star who made news last year for playing James Madison’s crystal flute at a concert:
WARNING: The following video contains vulgar language that some viewers may find offensive.
NOBODY HAS EVER HEARD THIS FAMOUS CRYSTAL FLUTE BEFORE
NOW YOU HAVE
IM THE FIRST & ONLY PERSON TO EVER PLAY THIS PRESIDENTIAL 200-YEAR-OLD CRYSTAL FLUTE— THANK YOU @librarycongress
pic.twitter.com/VgXjpC49sO
— FOLLOW @YITTY (@lizzo) September 28, 2022
Why did I subject you to that? To remind you that Lizzo twerking onstage with James Madison’s crystal flute created far less backlash in the establishment media than fitness guru Jillian Michaels asking why we were “celebrating [Lizzo’s] body … ’cause it isn’t going to be awesome if she gets diabetes.”
By pointing out the obvious — that the fruits of an unhealthy lifestyle are indeed unhealthy — she was labeled a “bully.”
But Michaels and Gutfeld both realize that outward beauty, in many ways, reflects how we live and what we value. And that’s a truth we can’t escape, try as we might.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
