“Magnets,” a new single by the British duo Disclosure, recently propelled the pair onto Billboard Magazine’s top rock chart. The consistently new and exciting group recruited Lorde as a lyricist to create the hit. While I generally adore Lorde and her music, there was one lyric with which I had an issue: “Pretty girls don’t know the things that I know/ Walk my way I’ll share the things that she won’t.”
Nowness, a website devoted to utilizing film to showcase contemporary culture, recently posted a video entitled, “The Very Big Problems of Very Pretty Girls.” The short film displays several attractive women in slow motion, dubbed over by a male voice recounting how life can be hard for very pretty women. While this film seems to be in jest, it also highlights all of the stereotypes attractive people have to deal with. Prime example: because time always slows down when they walk, pretty people are late everywhere.
My question, inspired by these two pieces of pop culture, is this: Why do we continue to obsess over physical beauty, and why do we stereotype those who society has deemed “beautiful?”
In shows such as “Pretty Little Liars,” “Scream Queens,” even “Psych” (with the “shocking” depiction of Juliet as a beautiful, and — surprise — intelligent cop), and countless popular movies today, attractive people, and attractive women especially, are grouped into one narrow category based solely on their appearance. When the “hot” girl turns out to be smart, it’s a huge character development that somehow adds some new plot twist to the story. This should not be the case.
We as humans are very good at stereotyping and making generalizations. Making the assumption that someone can or cannot do something based off of their physical appearance, disabilities aside, is quite honestly a horrid accusation.
I get what Lorde is saying; obviously, the way people have been raised and the feedback they have received from their surroundings has caused different people to experience life through a slightly different lens. But as a nation where women are already fighting for equality in every aspect, why cause dissonance within the troops?
I have seen people judged and mistreated for being “attractive” because their peers believe that everything in life was handed to them and that they don’t need to be smart or do not have the capacity to be. Recently, I heard a conversation between two women, and their conversation made me pretty upset. It was the worst thing I have heard someone say in a long time — “Ugly girls must hate you.”
First of all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so someone who is a “10” to one person could be “not my type” to another. Second, haven’t we all heard by now that “hate” is a strong word? Use it wisely. Finally, how sad was it to hear that someone who was just trying to discuss how everyone has something to give, and who was advocating for the value of everyone, was shot down because they were “attractive?”
We only allow ourselves to continue to get so caught up in outer looks because the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show still runs, because Photoshop is still used on almost every magazine cover, and because filters and editing on Instagram can make your face look oh-so-silky even if, in reality, you’re stress-breaking out because of your calculus midterm. So stick together, remember that inner beauty trumps all and jam out to “Magnets.” But also think about what “pretty” means to you.