AS and aesthetics

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Do you have a very atypical view of what is visually pleasing?

I do, and I noticed that one of the questions on the aspie quiz was 'do you have atypical ideas of what is beautiful?' It got me thinking.

I once hurt a girl's feelings by telling her I thought her heavy, powerful build was cool and I'd like to look like her. Apparently, girls are supposed to be slight and delicate, not big and strong like a wild animal.

I also like very atypical facial features. I like hard edged or jagged lines. Crooked noses are cool.

I like people who look animalistic somehow, like overly wiry, or an undulating walk like a cat, or people who are abnormally heavyset.

Anyone else have an "odd" sense of aesthetics?

I do, for sure.
For example...I think my very good friend is beautiful, and have gotten teased for thinking so....he is skinny and bald with glasses, funny teeth, and a long beard. To me he is a work of art...I want to do paintings of him....but my main partner tells me how his other female friends talk smack about how unattractive he is..They're nuts....Surely I am not the only one who thinks he is as attractive as I do.

He looks like a cross between an elf and a vulcan.


But as far as people in general...I think that unusual people are the most attractive..

I was just thinking today about someone I used to work with. She's probably 50 lbs. overweight and has a severe scar running down one side of her face from her temple to her chin. It looks like the knife just missed her eye. She's tall and dark with beautiful kind eyes and killer cheekbones. I think she looks like a mythic queen.

You mean aesthetics as in how people look? Up until recently I had no emphasis on how my car looks, only that it is reliable. I never really analyzed what it is about people that attracts me, either. It's not a particular look, but rather, if I can identify with them and they can engage me on an intellectual level.

She brought up how people look..so I related in terms of how people look..but my asthetics in terms of other things are unusual too..maybe...

There is some artwork that some people will say is really cool that I will say is hideously monsterously ugly...for example.....

I find thick bushy eyebrows very sexy in women.

I get turned on by women with either walleyes or crossed eyes. Always have.

As for aesthetics in general, I have a strong--almost emotional, almost like getting "turned on"--response when I find something aesthetically pleasing. (I think many NT's do, anyway.) But what I find pleasing isn't always "normal".

For instance, I get "turned on" by things that are getting, oh, "corroded" might be a good word. A porch lamp casting light on a porch full of clutter. An old metal fence that is rusted and overgrown with weeds. A drainage pipe spilling into a ditch. These things have a powerful pull on me.

Interesting topic!

the molecular structure because it's simplicity but it's complexity I see it in everything for example when I look at bubbling water I see the molecules in my hea dshing ruound it still fascinates me

I find a well written mathematical formula or piece of computer code to be beautiful (even i think that is a little weird when i explain it). But as far as people go (which it seems everyone else here seems to mean), i do find a lot of girls attractive who most people would think is ugly, but i didnt think that had anything to do with AS.

Most people I find beautiful or interesting looking seem to be considered "weird" looking by others, while I find most sex symbols boring and common as muck. But this is not a sexual thing - I'm not necessarily attracted to someone I find physically beautiful, I just like looking at them like at a painting or sculpture. (And no, I don't stare and usually manage to hide my interest )

I've also been told quite often that some of the art and even literature I appreciate is morbid or, again, weird.

But I've met NTs with similar views so I'd say it's more a conformity issue.

What I don't understand is the overwhelming importance looks and appearance seem to have for some people. My sister once told me she doesn't like one of my friends (brilliant, funny, charming guy), because she finds him very ugly

Marshall, I think your pictures are beautiful and I think others would appreciate them too.

Excellent topic

Marshall, those are beautiful picture and pretty much capture what I would define as beauty. I like the unendingly complex detail on organic closeups. I also have a "thing" for abandoned buildings. They're almost like a place of religious significance for me, decaying concrete looks amazing, and it's extremely fun to try and explore these places. It's a little like interactive art The epic scale is what gets me most, it's almost humbling.

Here's a few random pics

I think decay is beautiful and I'm happy to be able to talk to people who don't misunderstand. My brother understands (but he's far away)