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In the eye of the beholder

I doubt that Mount Isa's mayor, John Molony, meant to be unkind to "beauty-disadvantaged" women when he put out his call this week for them to proceed pronto to the Isa. The ratio of men to women was five to one, he said, and happiness awaited the beauty-disadvantaged. As I point out in my column today, Mr Molony has it more than slightly wrong - the 2006 census established that the numbers of men and women in his town are almost equal. And the reason for the deprivation among the men was explained by one of my former workmates, Tahnee Watson, a young woman living in Mount Isa, as many of the single women in that town being professionals who would not tolerate yobbos!

"Quite often you will see walking down the street [in Mount Isa] a lass who is not so attractive with a wide smile on her face," mayor Molony said. "Whether it is recollection of something previous or anticipation for the next evening, there is a degree of happiness." In other words, even the beauty-disadvantaged can get their rocks off in Mount Isa.

If there was any doubt about Mr Molony's couthness, he put it to rest when he said 100 women protesting against his comments were blaming him for the way they looked!

Beauty, prettiness, plainness and ugliness are intriguing, and for some painful, concepts. Teenagers become distraught over their imagined ugliness! And I suppose falling short of the standard, whatever it is, can be a disadvantage if you don't live in Mount Isa.

In my column today I point out that I can, of course, see beauty in women, but they are strangers. In the women I know and like I see the person, I see a face that reflects what I like about them, and the attractiveness of that has nought to do with the modern concept of beauty or ugliness. People say that Nicole Kidman is beautiful, but every woman in my life is more attractive than she is. And, truly, I have no idea whatsoever of what constitutes handsome or good looking in men.

What do you see in facial beauty and the alternative?

Posted By: Jeff Corbett on 20/08/2008 5:17:06 PM | Comments (7)

Comments

Date: Newest first | Oldest first

Jeff, the words in your column today "People say that Nicole Kidman is beautiful, but every woman in my life is more attractive than she is"! I have loved the robust provocative subjects you write about and defend. But now it's in writing, you are a Real Man! Well done, thanks for your time.

Posted by buell on 21/08/2008 10:44:35 AM

beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.

Posted by mikey on 21/08/2008 11:12:34 AM

On the face of it, Mikey, reducing women to an object to be leered at by beer-swilling yobbos is seriously offensive. But I suspect you're assuming that women who go to pubs go for that very reason, to be leered at by beer-swilling yobbos. Right?

Posted by Jeff Corbett on 21/08/2008 12:08:18 PM

Some loads can be difficult to carry. Accepting whats unacceptable is difficult, like paediatric oncology. Cancer is a cruel and insidious disease and the cruelest and most insidious is childhood cancer.The disease slowly, methodically, painfully destroys the quality of such a young life and with the intrusion of invasive surgery, high grade radiotherapy and high level chemo the suffering is soul desroying. And as i look across the table after a decade of living on razors edge, I see the steely resolve, the pluck, the courage and the gut busting determination of a gallant young man still struggling, still strong in the face of adversity. I FEEL cowardly and beaten but not depressed or defeated. Cancer sucks Jeff and i bet throat cancer did and does too.

Posted by chaff and oats on 21/08/2008 11:21:04 AM

Well, yes, it does, chaff and oats. The cure was the hard part, but I found it easy because I saw it as the cure. Are you referring to your son? We seem to be moving towards a new raft of treatments for cancer and I hope there's something in that for the young fellow you're referring too.

Posted by Jeff Corbett on 21/08/2008 12:13:04 PM

I omitted the most important part, yes he is my son. I have two sons who've been through different types of cancer, a third who is blind (people have a good familarity with cancer, blindness not so understanding), plus a fourth son who has spent his life feeling sorry for everyone. Life is about relativity - I see people much worse off in your paper every day.

Posted by chaff and oats on 21/08/2008 12:48:36 PM

Jeff, i agree with you again, no one compares with my fiance, the prettiest woman in the world. I don't get it, i hear people raving about Cameron Diaz and Jessica Beil or who ever and, honestly, i don't rate them, i wouldn't look twice at them if i saw them walking down the street. Beauty really is from the inside. People say thats crap but beauty must be more than looks. Oh and when it comes to men, i really don't have a clue either. i know i aint no oil painting myself, but really, some of the so-called pin up boys seem a little rough to me. Hahaha.

Posted by Nafe on 21/08/2008 1:19:33 PM

I think some of the 'beautiful people' such as Nicole Kidman are not attractive because their faces are so perfect they look plastic. Not a line on their face = no expression. I actually find it a weird experience to look at pictures of the Hollywood stars because they just don't look like real people.

Posted by snr sergeant smith on 22/08/2008 1:43:48 PM

As a self-aware "beauty-disadvantaged" lady (I am a decent person on the inside), I find that "men" seem to have no problem pointing out my shortcomings - "would you look at that", "has anyone told you you're ugly", "I bet you're glad they invented beer" etc. As a matter of fact, fellas, I do have a mirror at home, and it works (unfortunately). I can imagine the outcries of the "gentlemen" of a sudden influx of "fuglies" to Mt Isa.

Posted by stop-in on 25/08/2008 6:55:34 PM

You're mixing in the wrong company, Stop-in, or living in the wrong part of the world. Men who say those sort of things to anyone are barbaric, and I'm pleased I don't have among my friends and acquaintances any man who would. I think once we pass the early age where beauty or acceptability is determined by magazines we come to see attractiveness as a quality emanating from the inside. Disfigurement, a turned eye, a bulbous nose has nothing to do with it.

Posted by Jeff Corbett on 26/08/2008 9:48:17 AM