Truth and Beauty
British women used to be , lets face it, a bit tatty round the edges. Snaggy nails, bobbly cardies and a bit of muffin top was all part of getting the London look. Well, not any more. Now women are super-groomed. Manicures, smooth blow-drys, plucked eyebrows - and that’s just the teens. Beauty, and the tireless pursuit of has become an end in itself.
For in the age of image, our every flaw is pored over. Celebrities are ripped to shreds if they have anything other than a taut tummy, yet equally castigated for indulging in too much Botox. And social networking means that our personal pics are now public, turning everyone into a narcissist. Now, I’m all for making the best of yourself and admit to having a rather unhealthy interest in clothes and lip gloss, but it’s all fun. It doesn’t actually mean anything, or even matter all that much.
Well, apparantly it does. This obsession with looks above all else has taken a rather sinister turn with the advent of the controversial dating site BeautifulPeople.com ( as the name suggests, only beautiful people are allowed to join ) creating a fertility arm, where “ ugly people” can have access to the site’s members’ self-proclaimed, gorgeous genes www.independent.co.uk/
The arts have always celebrated beauty, from the Mona Lisa, Girl with a Pearl Earring and Flaming June to endless song lyrics, novels and films. But the women, and men, so revered for their appearance have an inner substance and a context. They’re not just pretty faces.
And we only have to look at the enduring beauties to see that it takes more than a facial peel and an attitude to achieve true beauty. In a recent survey for QVC our number one beauty icon is, unsurprisingly, Audrey Hepburn for her beauty, talent and sophistication.
So what do we want? A nation of groomed lovelies sneering down their slim noses at the jabbering, buck-toothed uglies? Or maybe a bit of balance with personality, intelligence and ( here’s a radical one ) being a decent person thrown in with the beauty bit.
As the ( beautiful, talented, lovely ) Paloma Faith asks : “ Do you want the truth or something beautiful?” Me? I’ll go for what’s real.
