| Every age had given its fair share of | | | | before us. And even more surprising are the |
| accolades to the beautiful men and women of | | | | statistics, which showcase the winning saga |
| the world. Fictions and fairy tales are no | | | | of all the so-called unsightly men and ugly |
| exception either. The proverbial beauty of | | | | women of the world. |
| Helen, Cleopatra, Juliet, Nefertiti, | | | | |
| Cinderella and Snow White cannot wane with | | | | While people's desire to be more beautiful is |
| time, nor can it slip into oblivion. Good | | | | justified, it is also true that ugliness is |
| looks have been the cynosure of numerous | | | | never a handicap. We are often baffled with |
| human actions-legendary love stories were | | | | some trivia claiming that good-looking men |
| made and nations were ravaged in wars, but | | | | get better jobs and salaries than the ugly |
| beauty never stopped bewitching the human | | | | men, and pretty women get more handsome |
| race. | | | | raises than their uglier counterpart. No |
| | | | matter what amount of truth is there in such |
| On the flip side, the not-so-pretty people | | | | claims, it is as true as it can get that many |
| have consistently been pushed aside into the | | | | of the ugly people have made it to the news. |
| dark alleys of obscurity and ridicule. They | | | | Take for instance, Prince Charles, Mick |
| have always been portrayed in shades of gray | | | | Jagger, Francis Ford Coppola, Mike Tyson, |
| as vamps, villains or the 'bad guy'. But who | | | | Camilla Parker, Woody Allen, Eleanor |
| or what decides ugliness, or if at all this | | | | Roosevelt and more. All of them have struck |
| is required, would be another issue of | | | | gold in their own individual ways. This only |
| course. Nevertheless, art, literature and | | | | goes to show that looks are never deterrents |
| history bear ample testimony to the fact that | | | | to fame or success. Who would mind an ugly |
| the ill-favored faces have been the object of | | | | face when there is enough virtue in the other |
| scorn and despise for reasons quite | | | | aspects of the person? Possibly none. |
| unreasonable to sanity. | | | | |
| | | | Fair or dark, fat or thin, perfect or |
| Like we all know, beauty lies in the eyes of | | | | grotesque, earning a name for oneself does |
| the beholder, but whose eyes is it anyway? | | | | not rest with the face alone. While a pretty |
| Are these the eyes of the socio-cultural | | | | face can of course be a vantage, it is never |
| construct, which entails beauty is all about | | | | the be all and end all of making a mark. |
| face? Or are they eyes of the thought that | | | | Stripping off all socio-cultural constructs, |
| connotes the archetypal 'white is beautiful | | | | what ultimately shines through is that the |
| and black is ugly' notion? Answers are not | | | | ugly ducklings of the world can indeed make |
| exactly what we are looking for here. Much to | | | | it big in every way! |
| the contrary, it throws up more questions | | | | |