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The Power of Beauty

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One of the most successful,

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influential and beloved women in American history,

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Eleanor Roosevelt once said that she had one regret:

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she wished she had been prettier.

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Who hasn’t felt the same way?

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We are all too aware of our physical imperfections.

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To overcome them,

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we spend billions upon billions of dollars every year on cosmetics,

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diet products, fashion, and plastic surgery.

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Why do we care so much about how we look?

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Because it matters.

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Because beauty is powerful.

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Because even when we learn to value people

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mostly for being kind and wise and funny,

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we are still moved by beauty.

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No matter how much we argue against it or pretend to be immune,

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beauty exerts its power over us.

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There is simply no escape.

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Aristotle said,

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“Beauty is a greater recommendation than any letter of introduction.”

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It’s not fair, but it’s true.

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We simply treat beautiful people better than we do others.

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Attach a photograph of a beautiful author to an essay,

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and people will think that is more creative and more intelligently written

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than exactly the same essay accompanied by the photo of a homely author.

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Our sensitivity to physical beauty is not something we can control at will.

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We are born with it.

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Experiments conducted by psychologist Judith J. Langlois

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showed that even small infants prefer to look at attractive faces.

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Before they have met a single supermodel,

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before they have watched a single TV show,

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before they have opened up a single fashion magazine,

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they are drawn to the same faces which adults have judged to be attractive.

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There are more important things in life than beauty.

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But as Etcoff says,

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“We have to understand beauty, or we will always be enslaved by it.”

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If you aim to be wise and kind and funny,

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it doesn’t mean that you can’t also try your best to look beautiful.

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There’s no reason to feel guilty about being moved by beauty’s power.

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It moves us all.