What’s Wrong With Being Beautiful?

Chel Owens

I am not a beautiful person. I don’t turn heads and never have*. Then again, I’ve never wanted to. Instead, I strive to be heard for my wit, my mind, and my impressive collection of hardback books. Furthermore, I find being attractive and flaunting that attractiveness to be SHAMEFUL.

Why?

Photo by Darcy Delia on Pexels.com

Okay; okay…. I’m not talking about showing skin as an invitation for sex. That’s a little obvious of an answer. What I’m asking is why being proud of beauty is wrong. Beauty is a heritable trait, like intelligence. It takes work to look good, like how piano-playing takes practice. Only a few people are beautiful, much like how only a few people are successful.

Yet, I think intelligence, musical ability, and success are good things. They’re admirable. Sexiness? Not so much.

Again; why?

Why is it taboo to play off looks, especially as a female? Why do I look away when a voluptuously thin woman catwalks past? Why do I judge the pretty girl at the bar?

What’s so bad about beauty??

—————-

Here’s what posted over the last week:
Wednesday, February 23: Asked where you’ll all be in five years…

Friday, February 25: Friday Photo. Really, Wal-mart? Really?

Sunday, February 27: Shared Pete’s fantastic quote.

Monday, February 28: “I’m a Mormon, So” I’m no druggie.

Tuesday, February 29ish: Tried a limerick about graaiins.

REMEMBER TO ENTER THE TERRIBLE POETRY CONTEST BEFORE TOMORROW MORNING (MST).

©2022 Chel Owens

*-except for that time I walked through the computer science building at college. Those boys hadn’t never seen a woman.

69 thoughts on “What’s Wrong With Being Beautiful?”

  1. I don’t know that there’s anything inherently wrong with beauty, but if a less qualified person gets a job over someone more qualified solely on their looks, then I think it becomes a problem. Sadly, we know it happens regularly.

    Liked by 2 people

  4. There’s nothing wrong with beauty, it’s a currency just like any other skill one might possess, and let’s be honest just like I’m more than an annoying whinge-bag, beautiful people are more than just beautiful

    Liked by 2 people

            1. I have no delusions about my looks, except for a persistence in assuming I’m still my before-pregnancy weight. At least I have all my fingers, toes, eyes, mouth, ears, and nose…

              Liked by 1 person

  9. You know how I feel about this. You’re discriminating against the way someone is born….based on how they look….aren’t we against that this week?

    Liked by 2 people

      1. there’s no doubt that competency should be the most important, but nothing wrong with someone taking advantage of their good looks. Plus, I think competency is something you can work to improve on; your looks, not as much…

        Liked by 1 person

  11. Well if it wasn’t for sexiness, maybe we all wouldn’t be here. I think it’s mother nature’s way of keeping the human race going. But I believe anyone looks beautiful and attractive, as long as they bathe regularly.

    On the other hand, when people rely upon their looks alone, their minds tend to grow vapid and soulless. This makes them attractive in the short run, but dreadfully boring in the long run.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. I don’t know. Old people look alright to me, as long as they bathe (which many are guilty of not doing).

        Nothing lasts. Nothing is permanent. But I think that’s a whole different subject from the one you brought up.

        Liked by 1 person

              1. Maybe some people do, but I like beauty about as much as anything else. Beauty isn’t altogether practical, but what’s the purpose of being practical, if not to enable us to enjoy the beauty of the world?

                Liked by 1 person

  13. I have had a chip on my shoulder about looks my entire life. Basically, I have always felt like I am a genius trapped in a hideous body and if I were better looking, I’d be running the world. However, as I got older I realized most people are average and if I’d just kept it somewhat tight I would have had an easier go at it. Sometimes I see the ugliest dudes with the hottest babes and it dawns on me that being in good shape is half the battle, even if you have a gargoyle face.

    Oh well, my Toilet Gator should snag me plenty o’babes.

    Liked by 2 people

  15. There’s nothing wrong with beauty . I think super attractive people make many of us feel uncomfortable and inadequate so we project our own feelings onto them. It’s like hating rich people just for being rich .

    Liked by 2 people

  18. I can feel people stripping me with their eyes – especially when I am in the fruit and vegetable department of the supermarket because everything there is displayed to perfection.

    Liked by 2 people

  19. Nothing wrong with admiring beauty but I feel like some who admire beauty may also discriminate against the opposite… and basing value of a person solely (if you are doing it solely) on beauty (a natural inherited trait) then it can be a disadvantage to others … and beauty is so relative to the eye of the beholder…lots to think about here… good points though

    Liked by 1 person

  20. Congrats on getting a ton of comments on this post. It obviously strikes a chord with us all.

    I wanted my children to be “above average” in looks. (Though, brilliant, of course.) I didn’t want “lack of looks” to be a hindrance to them, but neither did I desire for them to ever be judged by their looks.

    That’s particularly of concern for daughters (at least to us fathers) since we know how unscrupulous most boys/men are. Best to not be pursued by such individuals.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Rob. I haven’t any daughters but feel similarly about looks.

      Do you think you’re averse to their being too beautiful (or, perhaps, to anyone’s being too beautiful) because of a fear of too much attention?

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  21. Beauty doesn’t always lead to narcissism, it CAN but it doesn’t always do that. God made beautiful things all around us and there’s nothing wrong with enjoying them. Sometimes the beauty is outwardly, sometimes it’s on the inside, and many times it’s both. It’s as easy for someone to judge a beautiful woman with an outwardly appearance as it is to judge someone biased in their attitude. We all need to stay in our lane and focus on our own hearts. That’s not to say we should be a doormat for disrespect… but we should be asking ourselves “am I guilty of judgment because I’m jealous or do I have a legitimate reason to feel the way I do based on this person’s behavior?”

    Liked by 1 person

  22. I just saw this post today and so I am late in responding, however, I feel like I must. First of all, beauty and sexiness are two very different things. A rose is beautiful. Children playing are beautiful, and every now and then people are physically beautiful.

    Ask any man and he will tell you that a woman can be very sexy and not necessarily beautiful. Those are two very different concepts. I think truly beautiful people don’t realize they are beautiful. Plus, Beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder. Now that I am a senior citizen I think all people under 30 are beautiful. I love the way they move with ease. I love the natural bloom of youth that shines on their faces, no matter what their features are. There is something to be said for youth. And society tends to make up its own rules about fashion and beauty and those rules wax and wane like the tides.

    When I was in high school and college I modeled. (Runway and photography). Today’s standards are quite different from expectations in the mid 60’s. We didn’t have to be as tall or as skinny as today’s waifs. But, I was interested in fashion design and so I tried out for a local department store teen board to represent my high school. They trained us how to put on makeup, how to walk the runway, and Seventeen magazine and Mademoiselle mag came down from NY and did photo shoots of a few of us for various issues. I was lucky to be selected and wound up in local newspapers and a few national magazines while in my teens. But nobody thought of themselves as beautiful.

    It wasn’t until then that I learned that there is a big difference between looking glamorous and being beautiful. Many of the NY models who came down for our fun in the sun Seventeen photo shoot weren’t especially pretty, however they knew how to highlight their best feature with makeup. And they were all photogenic. In college I was taught how to do stage makeup for the theater. Everyone looks gorgeous on stage at a distance. But sit in the front row and it’s a different story. All the actors look great on stage but not close up. Even cleavages are drawn on. It’s all illusion.

    I learned how to make myself look beautiful on stage and in photos when I was young. In real life I was a cute girl. But, beautiful? That’s what radiates from the inside. I became insecure about my looks because in modeling and acting everyone is pretty. I suppose I was lucky to be a pretty girl. But then there were other problems. Girls resent you, and I can’t tell you how many guys at my various high school reunions told me they had mad crushes on me but were afraid to ask me out because I was considered too pretty to date. They assumed I’d reject them. How crazy is that?

    And now, G-d willing I will be 73 in a few weeks. I look like a gray haired granny. So you see, looks are irrelevant. Nobody cares that I got the part of Juliet in college because I was told by the director that I was the prettiest girl who auditioned. Being alive, enjoying my loved ones is so much more important than how I look. What is Beauty anyway ? I think I first felt beautiful when the doctor handed me my first born son. Beautiful now is my smile when I see my grandchildren running to me. THAT’s beautiful. We over estimate good looks. I see women my age getting plastic surgery to look younger. I rejoice in the gift of aging. Now that’s really a beautiful thing!

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