Kids
We didn’t know Babies Have a Sense of Beauty Too!
New moms, if ever your baby decides to cry in front of a relative for no reason or just doesn’t want to look at them, this may be why.
We always believed that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder“. But the truth is, it’s not in the eye but in the brain. Our brains even when we were babies could distinguish what was pretty and what wasn’t. Yes, that means even our babies do have a sense of beauty. They will have their preferences even though they’re only a few days old. How did this happen and where did they suddenly gain a sense of beauty?
Babies don’t just have a sense of beauty; they have a definite preference too!
But they’re babies!
That’s what we’d like to think too. As babies, we’d think that they’re more functioning on instinct. But studies — especially one by Dr. Alan Slater from Exeter University — have shown that they do have a thinking system. They actually develop the ability to recognize faces while they’re still in the womb. Despite their brains not being fully wired up yet like adults, they recognize faces due to certain universal features. They eventually discern if they like that striking feature before just ignoring it altogether. Usually, we find that out if they stare at the face of the person a little longer.
Did they mean anything bad by it?
If we’re thinking in the context of moral development then, not really. While they do have an idea of what helps them, they can’t really understand it if it’s abstract. That’s more adult stuff. Like, babies may not acknowledge a person to be within their standard of beauty. But that doesn’t mean they just don’t like them altogether! They’re still on the concrete side. Whatever they perceive with their little hands, eyes, nose, ears, mouth, and tongue, that’s all they understand.
Don’t worry, your babies will eventually develop a better way to express their sense of beauty.
A lot of us find babies cute but it’s strange to believe that they have a standard of beauty. But some say that their ability to recognize faces is also for survival reasons. They won’t go with someone who doesn’t look a particular way. And usually, that particular way is us: their moms! Our babies will always find us beautiful and they’ll always have us as their gold standard for beauty. Wish we could say the same for our relatives though.
Looking for more parenting research? Here’s more!
Is it Egocentrism or Are Your Toddlers Being Brats?
“You’re like your mom/dad!”: How Kids Learn From Parents
The 4 Parenting Styles Explained and Made Easy
