Skin deep and superficial--American Beauty
We Americans have gotten rid of many forms of discrimination since the 60s. Perhaps I'm being naive, and I realize that we haven't obliterated all prejudices, but race, religion and gender have become less of a factor in policy and decision making. Good for us.
But one form of prejudice remains and is seldom talked about--the double standard that we apply between the average looking and the attractive. And by "attractive", I mean women.
Take for instance, the Valerie Plame case. Ms. Plame is at the heart of the whole Scooter Libbey brouhaha and is a professional covert CIA agent. Yet, she is usually described in news coverage as "willowy" or some equally biased word. You don't often hear that kind of adjectival reporting being applied to politically newsworthy men. Can you imagine the words to describe Karl Rove or Dick Cheney? They sort of remind of Borat's producer...you know, the "nutty" one.
Or how about the TV show, "Ugly Betty"? To make the star "ugly", they give her braces and glasses. What's wrong with that?
We don't apply that standard to men. Robert DeNiro is not a great looking guy, nor is Jack Nicholson or Sean Penn. Yet we like them as actors. The pretty boy actors generally aren't. Hugh Grant or Jude Law are not of the same caliber, but aren't believed to be either. Yet it seems that all a great-looking actress needs to do to get an oscar is to wear prosthetic ugly makeup, like Charlize Theron in Monster or Nicole Kidman in The Hours.
And don't get me started on the MYWBG news stories. (Missing Young White Blonde Girl).
Perhaps the Internet will be the great leveler. On Second Life, for instance, you can make yourself appear as anyone that you want to be.
Posted on March 16, 2007
