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“Women are held up simultaneously to feminist and feminine standards, and must fulfill both, but with a bias (still) toward the feminine. The ideal seems to be the Steel Magnolia.”
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“There is for many people an automatic dislike for someone who looks traditionally beautiful,” said Robert Thompson, a popular culture professor at Syracuse University. “Especially in the social jungle where everybody is competing for the attention of oth
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Counterpoint to “Beauty” article. “Reading this ill-informed load of crap made me want to throttle the author. Really? Pretty people are JUST LIKE gay and disabled people? REALLY?!”
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
Tara wrote:
Heh. Had I known that my counterpoint would be linked, I would have written something a little more in depth!
Posted 09 Jul 2008 at 7:40 am ¶
Mickey wrote:
I think I’m beautiful, though by “society’s” (sp) standards I’m probably not.
But I’m tall and thin. Like supermodel thin and taller than the average woman tall.
I get a lot of shit from some women since I don’t and have never struggled with my weight. I get the feeling that I’m not considered a “real woman” since I’m not always trying to lose 10lbs.
So stuff like this can go far beyond facial features.
Posted 09 Jul 2008 at 9:23 am ¶
Ailurophile wrote:
I liked Tara’s counterpoint to that article. Sorry, but I don’t believe that “pretty people” are oppressed just like fat, disabled, POC, and so on.
“Life is sometimes tough” does NOT equal “oppressed.” Life is sometimes tough for ALL of us.
I want to echo what one of Tara’s commenters wrote – these pretty people learned to be better liked by…being nice and polite. What a revelation!
Posted 09 Jul 2008 at 9:48 am ¶
Cynthia wrote:
Mickey,
At least you’re tall and thin. When you’re short and thin, people think you’re teenage girl, not a 20-something woman.
Posted 09 Jul 2008 at 10:04 am ¶
VELMA SABINA!!! wrote:
awwww, I pity poor beautiful women. I feel soooo sorry for them.
lmao
Posted 09 Jul 2008 at 10:18 am ¶
VELMA SABINA!!! wrote:
Anyway the beauty article is stupid. It has nothing to do with beauty. It’s the GENDER that’s usually the reason.
Women, whether they are “ugly” or “beautiful,” thin or big, can suffer discrimination, harrasment, bigotry, sexism, or whatever, anywhere, anytime. It has nothing to do with beauty!
Posted 09 Jul 2008 at 10:20 am ¶
different Ali wrote:
I also, er, enjoyed how in the 2 women’s anecdotes they attributed their being ignored/interrupted/talked down to being pretty and not to being a woman or woc.
Because my not so “naturally beautiful” friends and I have never been ignored/interrupted/talked down to. Never.
and if we have then we were obviously just having a good makeup day
Posted 09 Jul 2008 at 10:25 am ¶
lunanoire wrote:
Cynthia, when you are tall and thin and flat-chested, people call you “Sir.”
Posted 09 Jul 2008 at 11:09 am ¶
Mickey wrote:
@ Cynthia
Very true. I’ve seen petite, grown a**women get treated like children because of their size.
@Velma Sabina
You hit the nail on the head. At the end of the day, it really is about gender.
Posted 09 Jul 2008 at 11:20 am ¶
CVT wrote:
The Contra Costa Times – wow, that brings back memories. I don’t think we need to get too riled up about that joke of a newspaper (think “glorified neighborhood newsletter”).
It’s interesting to note, though, that the “beautiful” people interviewed ALSO happened to be people of color (perhaps not the man, but all the women) while they kept bringing up the “dumb blonde” stereotype.
Posted 09 Jul 2008 at 1:09 pm ¶
Tara wrote:
@ CVT – Exactly the point I was trying to make!
As if unattractive, plain, or average looking Asian women have an easier time commanding attention?
It was really a joke of an excuse for an “article.”
Posted 09 Jul 2008 at 1:19 pm ¶
becca b wrote:
haha…I’ve got a copy of the Contra Costa Times sitting a few feet away from me. Ah, local news! It’s great when the front page story is about kids playing in the park!
“I also, er, enjoyed how in the 2 women’s anecdotes they attributed their being ignored/interrupted/talked down to being pretty and not to being a woman or woc.”
Exactly!
Posted 09 Jul 2008 at 2:37 pm ¶
magda wrote:
hey, maybe you are all criticizing the article because it quotes beautiful women and you don’t think that what they say has any value.
seriously though, it’s not hard to make yourself look less attractive. it’s a lot easier than making yourself look more attractive.
Posted 09 Jul 2008 at 6:08 pm ¶
jstele wrote:
I think the negativity that arises in response to this article is due to the fact that posters believe that people who claim to have problems as a result of their beauty are just showing off in an underhanded way. Like, look at me I’m so beautiful, but have so many problems. But I don’t think that is not the case. I do think beautiful people have problems as described in the article. Of course, they can also be treated better than other people. But they also get jealousy and cattiness directed at them. There are negative stereotypes associated with beauty like lack of intelligence. So I think people need to be more open-minded and not automatically assume that someone is boasting when they acknowledge a trait that is highly desired in society. Same goes for thin people, smart people, rich people, etc. I agree the comparison to disable people is a bit much, though. But I’ve seen beautiful people treated poorly due to the insecurity of the person acting that way.
Posted 12 Jul 2008 at 10:36 pm ¶
jstele wrote:
Correction: Line 4: But I don’t think that IS the case.
Posted 12 Jul 2008 at 10:37 pm ¶