Sunday 25 September 2011

"It seemed, for a while, that admiring beauty had become taboo!" - Mrs. Anne Isaacs to Mr. Darkwah


Skins. Misfits. Shameless. Summers of grungy, dark colours, obscured faces and 'bed hair'. This is what we have seen for the past 2 years in 'fashion'. People seemed to shun all previous ideas of beauty and move into what I like to call, for dramatic purposes of course, the darker realms of themselves and style. It was not until I was conversing with a friend of mine that I came to think of it as disdain or even hatred for admiring beauty. 

Once said, I started to realise that it was very true - there was a reluctance that had been growing over the past few years for admiring beauty. Why? In discussion, some seemed to think it was a result of feminism gaining a stronghold on females everywhere and resulting in them not wanting their looks commented upon. This therefore led our beloved females to dress in such a way that their beauty was obscured - hidden so as not to be taken for "beautiful" or "stunning" and more for what they have to offer in substance. 

Sounds very much like the beginnings of a psychology student's dissertation on the relationship between females and beauty, doesn't it?

Another set of acquaintances blames it on the ever-growing fear of being politically incorrect. What does political correctness have to do with beauty? If I'm perfectly honest with you (and I am, so don't begin to question that now) I feel this 'hype' around being politically correct is a load of old "hoo-ha"! (I didn't want to be vulgar so chose a colloquial term to express my opinion.) Why do we constantly feel the need to censor everything that comes out of our mouths in conversation to others for fear that we will offend someone else? More so, since when did telling someone that they are beautiful become a rude or offensive act?! Now, should a man comment on a young woman's beauty, however pure his intentions, he is regarded as a lecher for his comment - "Wow, she's very pretty isn't she?" - was lewd and derogatory. 

I do not believe that it was only one of the mentioned factors but both, in conjunction that have created this problem. In my opinion, everyone has gone just a little bit 'soft' in becoming so wrapped up in political correctness. I mean, one can't say what they want without giving several disclaimers in a sentence and putting everything into a hypothetical scenario. 

Let's try and move away from this, shall we? Beauty exists and so long as it does, there will be those who admire it. However, let us not focus solely on that. People have substance and we should aim to get to know them and how they think to be able to admire their minds as well as their looks. 

Ciao Belissimi! (Hopefully that didn't offend any of you... Haha!)

Mr. Darkwah 
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