Beauty is but a vain and doubtful god,

A shining gloss that fadeth suddenly,

A flower that dies when first it gins to bud,

A brittle glass that’s broken presently.

— Shakespeare, The Passionate Pilgrim, Stanza 13

IT’S true, they do say that beauty is only skin deep, and that beauty fades, and that beauty is only for the shallow among us. Well, that may be true in some cases, but what is sure is that beauty may be fleeting, yes, but ugly lasts forever, and even God don’t like ugly, they say.

Yes, my friends, the Lord made some wonderfully beautiful objects in this world, some so breathtaking that they… well, they take your breath away. And truth be told, there are more beautiful objects in this world than there are ugly… I think.

Just gaze upon a perfect sunrise or sunset, a peacock as it spreads its plumage, a butterfly with its delicate gossamer wings, a multicoloured parrot, an iridescent neon tetra as it swims about in its tank, a beautiful woman. The beauty that occurs in nature is incomparable and it attracts us to gaze on in wonderment. The same applies to people, and no matter what some may say in order to level the playing field, looks do count.

If looks didn’t count, the fashion industry would not be worth the billions of dollars that it does today. If looks didn’t count, movie stars and models would not be raking in the big bucks that they command. If looks didn’t count, beauty queens would not get to marry millionaires. Trust me, looks do count, but happily, no one has to be ugly anymore. We’ll explore this right after these responses.

Hey Tony,

Regarding your footnote about that girl in the USA who wasn’t promoted even though she was qualified, but because she didn’t ‘have the look,’ well, it’s downright discriminatory. However, some employers practice ‘front-a-yard appearance’. They require a certain look from those employees who prospective clients see first when they enter the establishment. That is why you encounter the same look when you enter hotels or view the evening news.

So for those employers who believe that a certain look will be good for business, they will only have that ‘certain look’ for that position. So if the position calls for someone with an MBA, the ‘pretty’ or ‘front-a-yard appearance’ applicant with the MBA will always get the position over someone who doesn’t appearance-wise fit the mould, even if that applicant also has an MBA.

It’s the same sentiment espoused by the research that holds that attractive people earn more or have an employment edge over their less attractive peers. So qualifications aside, if you don’t possess the ‘look’ they are looking for, then you don’t get considered for the position. Simple. Tough. Mais, c’est la vie.

Gelles

Teerob,

‘Get over it’ was a gem. It’s time people put away what’s past and focus on the present and the future. I’m tired of having to deal with women who carry their baggage from they were teething and wave it in my face and expect me to deal with it. For heaven’s sake, get over it, leave the suitcase full of woes behind and learn to live and laugh with a new bag. Life is short. Get over it is so right.

Anthony

That first letter really hit the nail on the head regarding the reality of looks counting in this superficial world of ours. But is it being shallow to put beauty first and homeliness second?

After all, even animals reject ugly, and if there is a runt in the litter, the mother cat or dog may simply ignore or even reject it and pay more attention to the healthier, stronger, prettier babies. And even when animals court each other, the male struts his stuff and tries to look as attractive as possible to the female. It’s extremely difficult to pick up and cuddle an ugly baby, unless you are the mother. And usually, people will look on an ugly infant and say, “Well, she has a great personality,” or “He looks so intelligent.” Lord help an ugly child, for the saying is true, “God don’t like ugly.”

Unfortunate though it may be, it’s a sad fact of human society that such a great premium is placed on looks. It’s every woman’s dream to be beautiful, and many years ago when they asked girls in the USA what their preference would be — to be pretty or smart — almost all of them said pretty. Yes, looks do count, and anyone who says otherwise is blowing smoke over their face.

Just recently this woman in the USA was held for injecting Botox into the face of her five-year-old daughter so that she’d have a better chance in beauty pageants. She got caught, but many others have done similar stunts in order to enhance the beauty of their young daughters. Remember JonBenét Ramsey, that little girl who was killed in the USA? She wore more make-up than a fashion model.

Jamaica is blessed to have the most beautiful women in the world, and if you just walk down any of our streets, visit our nightclubs or go to our beaches, you’ll see women with natural beauty that will knock your socks off. Our island has no equal, and in the same way that we have an embarrassment of riches with our athletes, we have an abundance of beautiful women.

But should we focus so much on beauty, on the external, on the superficial? After all, isn’t it what’s inside that really matters, that counts? Well, maybe in a fantasy world that may happen, but in the real world, if you aren’t shocking out with beauty, you’ll be left behind.

The harsh, stark, hard fact of life is, if you’re dog-faced, pig-snout ugly, you will not get a job reading the prime time news on TV, or be modelling for any top-class agency in Paris, Milan, Rome or even Mocho in Clarendon. If you haven’t got the features to make men look and lust and women drool with envy, you will not be asked to appear in any music video.

If your head is as big as a jackfruit, and you have the body of a hippo, you will not be asked to walk down the aisle with a movie star or millionaire. It’s exactly what that reader was addressing in his letter at the top of this page. Looks count, and many institutions will not come out and express it blatantly, but the woman who is ugly will not be greeting anyone at the front desk.

“How come she get that job and I’m more qualified than her?”

“Aha, you just haven’t got the look. I think you have a face more suited for radio.”

Remember that song: “It must have broke your poor little heart, when the boys used to say, you look better in the dark”? Even people who are visually impaired want someone who looks good, a fact that was brought to my attention when I saw this movie where this visually impaired man only dated women who were beautiful. He depended on his friends to tell him who was pretty and who wasn’t.

The fact that he couldn’t see them for himself was irrelevant; what mattered most to him was that his woman must be pretty. In this day and age though, people haven’t got to be ugly anymore, and I saw this documentary that proved just that.

They took 10 homely women, and after a process of make-up, hairstyling, skin toning, creams, gels, eye liners, rouge, lipstick and a full body makeover, the transformation was astounding. All the women emerged looking drop-dead gorgeous. I kid you not. When you saw the transformation, it would make your jaw drop, as it was almost unbelievable that those same ordinary-looking women could be transformed from ugly ducklings to beautiful swans.

Hey, even that children’s story promoted beauty, as the ugly, unsightly, ungainly baby swan who was so out of place with the other little cute ducklings, emerged to be a beautiful swan that no duck could waddle near, as far as looks go. But even if women don’t have to go to the extremes of those in that documentary, nobody has to be ugly anymore.

There are more beauty products available than ever before. What’s even more astonishing is that many women nowadays wear some form of wig, extensions, or weaves to enhance or create a look of full-bodied-wind-blown-full-hair beauty. Gone are the days when false hair was frowned upon. Now it’s a must-have, and here today gone tomorrow has been changed to ‘hair today, more hair tomorrow.’

Chris Rock highlighted this fact in his HBO documentary. Women are spending billions of dollars on false hair, real hair, semi-faux hair and all sorts of hair products. And Jamaica is not to be outdone, for I saw for myself wigs being sold here for $45,000 and upwards. No, I didn’t buy one for myself. And it’s women who already have long hair who are buying these products. I have even seen butt enhancers. Those are padded mini pillow-like items that women wear to let their butts look bigger, rounder, firmer.

So, there’s a woman for every man, and a man for every woman, and if a man can’t find the girl of his dreams, he can create her. As for the bleaching, I won’t even go there, but it’s all done in the misguided attempt to look more beautiful… or so they think. Looks do count, and that’s a fact of life. No one wants to gaze into an ugly face for eternity, yours or your partner’s.

And when a woman stops caring about her appearance, that can sound the death knell of the relationship. Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the most beautiful of all?

Luckily women aren’t so hung up on looks as men are, and the term ‘arm candy’ applies to gorgeous women. Still, most women like to be squired by a handsome man, but it’s not a great priority. If he’s handsome and broke, she ain’t going anywhere with him. Looks count, and beautiful people will always have the edge. More time.

seido1@hotmail.com

Footnote: Why is it that Port Royal is still neglected? That once famous city is featured in almost all the history books of Europe and indeed other countries, yet it’s allowed to just lie there as the occasional visiting place for the lovers of great seafood. The history of Port Royal is so rich, as it was once the centre of commerce for the world, before it was partially destroyed in the great earthquake of 1692 and most of it sank beneath the sea. It never recovered. And now it’s simply a little rustic town that most Jamaicans have never visited. But then again, maybe the folks there want it just as it is, to be left alone.

On a different note, I’m sure you’ve encountered these people from the following quote:

“The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.” Albert Einstein, 1879-1955. There was a Greek saying too, “Even the gods despair in the face of stupidity.”