Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The recent viral video of Lizzie Velasquez, 'The Ugliest Girl in the World' got me thinking. I can see choosing beauty over that which is less perfect, but why do we villainize those less fortunate. I have seen girls tear apart a nice guy they didn't even know because he was short, making assumptions about his low IQ and income.
Lizzie Velasquez's video received over 4 million hits, thousands of people with cruel remarks giving tips on how to kill herself. In movies ugly women are witches or mean step mothers and short or ugly guys are crooks, tyrants and low life villains. On the flip side attractive people are kind and generous princeses and princes. Kids who watch movies and read books learn this from an early age and bring into real life.
I understand most of this is instinct, protecting us from the ugly which are that way often because of deformity or illness. Things that would impact negatively on our survival, so we learn to hate as a defense.
It just seems like if we are really good, smart people we could find an answer to right this injustice.
Smart people aren't struggling with primal instincts, most of the time (but not always). Dumb people have to rely on them because it is their only defense.
It is awful that an article with such a title was even created. If people had not been programmed to "differentiate" in the first place, we wouldn't be in this mess. It gets worse all the time and relates to the whole sexist, beautification thing that began - who knows how long ago. I realize that visual judgement of outer characteristics can go both ways, but let's face it, there has always been more pressure placed upon females to "become perfect" or "remain young" and it doesn't help by having unrealistic images constantly shown for men to be programmed to "lust after", setting impossible standards.
I say, look around when you are in public, and count how many of those perfect-looking people you see. (Hmmm...where are they all hiding? Celebs go out shopping, undercover "as themselves", because they look like "regular people", when not done up). They need to stop selling the idea that if one appears flawless outwardly, that they must also be flawless on the inside. This has caused a lot of problems, creating unrealistic expectations. I am not saying there does not exist those who are both attractive AND nice, valuable individuals, but are so overshadowed by something more.
If messages of flawlessness prevail instead of having examples given as to what is important and valuable about individuals, how can it ever change?
I see so many people of both genders who might look beautiful but you can usually tell it's a superficial beauty, heavy makeup, surgically-altered body parts, salon-perfect hair, you name it, it's not natural.
Then there are the people who put down others for the way they look but the ones doing the putting down aren't such prizes themselves.
As you wrote, they do it to make them feel better about themselves, a form of shallow insecurity.
This is usually the case. Imagine the cast of "Honey Boo-Boo" putting down the Kardashians for their physical appearance.
Awww, poor Lizzie. No matter how much weight she gains/loses puts on make up or fake boobs - there really is nothing she can do. She should not get critized the same way as people who have the power to change their exterior.
i have seen that ugliest girl in the world on daily mail's website. she is hideous to look at. when i see her and think of breeding, i only think that the child will be deformed. ugly and beauty have to do with symmetry which has to do with something with cells and how they separate from each other. there's so much science behind beauty and health with positive offspring production. when you try to use morals to overcome biology, you will always fail. always. nothing trumps dna.
and yes looks are superficial but i would absolutely not breed with someone as ugly as that girl or a down syndrome girl (look up the physical features). i would not want to raise offspring that are already defective to begin with.
and the fact is this - because of outrageous political correctness in today's society, we keep the weakest genes alive instead of letting them disappear from the gene pool. when someone looks like that or is very sick, that person is meant to die and disappear from the gene pool. instead, society continues to applaud that person and allows it to breed thereby keeping such genes in the pool. i know times were awful before science and reason but in nature, such people would die out immediately either from disease or from being shunned and getting no help.
i would actually like to see political correctness taken to a whole new level. a very hot model should marry a down syndrome girl or someone with leprosy. that would be so cute. and i bet their dna would reason with each other based on morals. absolutely.
People are cruel, so they try to find the worst in people to harp on to make themselves feel better. People are also fearful and slow to trust so when someone stands out from the norm it can make them feel discomfort around those who look different.
I'm with those who say the beautiful people in the movies and on tv are usually pretty much average when it comes down to real life where they don't get to hide behind the makeup. I remember when I first saw the Bratz dolls in the stores. I thought they were deformed looking. No way was I getting my child one. Now it seems like instead of trying to be a classic beauty like the old movie stars, all the movie stars are trying to look like the deformed Bratz dolls. These people don't resemble themselves with the makeup comes off.
Lizzie Velasquez may not be be beautiful in the physical sense. When I look at her picture, she sort of casts off an aura of being a good and pleasant person. I think over time as you start to see people for what they are instead of what they look like, they become ugly or pretty based on personality. Physical beauty doesn't have as much importance.
It is awful that an article with such a title was even created. If people had not been programmed to "differentiate" in the first place, we wouldn't be in this mess. It gets worse all the time and relates to the whole sexist, beautification thing that began - who knows how long ago. I realize that visual judgement of outer characteristics can go both ways, but let's face it, there has always been more pressure placed upon females to "become perfect" or "remain young" and it doesn't help by having unrealistic images constantly shown for men to be programmed to "lust after", setting impossible standards.
I say, look around when you are in public, and count how many of those perfect-looking people you see. (Hmmm...where are they all hiding? Celebs go out shopping, undercover "as themselves", because they look like "regular people", when not done up). They need to stop selling the idea that if one appears flawless outwardly, that they must also be flawless on the inside. This has caused a lot of problems, creating unrealistic expectations. I am not saying there does not exist those who are both attractive AND nice, valuable individuals, but are so overshadowed by something more.
If messages of flawlessness prevail instead of having examples given as to what is important and valuable about individuals, how can it ever change?
I don't think it's messages, I think it's human nature. Most people don't go to the pound and pick a dog they think it ugly. They want the cat or dog they think is cutest. It's not because we got bombarded by messages with Morris the Cat that cats must be beautiful, it's that humans are drawn most to beauty whether it's people, art, their view.
Being mean to ugly people is different though, that's just small people needing to feel better than someone else. No different that picking on the disabled kid at school, it's picking on those less fortunate than us. I don't think most people do this btw.
People do take it too far, especially when it comes to celebrities.
For example, Sarah Jessica Parker. She gets it a lot. I wonder how'd she feel if she reads those nasty comments written about her. Sure, don't find her attractive, but to call her heinous names?
And the thing is, she isn't ugly.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This is usually the case. Imagine the cast of "Honey Boo-Boo" putting down the Kardashians for their physical appearance. 
