Beauty is a weird thing!

It is funny how certain subjects seem to appear repeatedly during certain periods of time. These past few days this subject for me was 'Beauty'. Some of my previous blog posts already had dealt with it, and then in one of the TED newsletters a talk with the title A Darwinian theory of beauty by Denis Dutton was advertised. Finally: Beauty and science in one boat, something I might be able to write about, giving myself an air of sophistication. His views go way back some tenth of thousands of years - watch it, it is very nicely presented - claiming that there is a universal theme of beauty due to our ancestral lifestyle. And then Detlef drops the Independent Saturday Magazine on my desk depicting an article about the 'Ugly Business of Global Beauty' which sounds somewhat pessimistic yet similar to the above, but means something very different, indeed.

While I am longing for a darker skin tone and having a sari sitting in my wardrobe waiting to be let out, girls from other cultures seem to strive into the opposite direction. Although we all seem to long for long legs and slim waists, so Denis might have a point there. When I thought about my own viewpoint in regard to beauty, and if it might have changed over time, one is not getting any younger after all, I remembered an article I wrote at the very beginnings of IL in 2007. On Myspace I had come across a theatre promoter looking for submissions of monologues to be played on stage with the subject of body image. My pamphlet on 'From Strength to Freedom' got never chosen, giving me the opportunity to publish it on IL. And in there I find confirmed that in my eyes Denis does have a point:  Beauty does lie in many things to which I would like to add 'attitude'. And 'attitude' my dear ladies is independent form any culture or age!