Beauty

The question of the day is, does physical beauty help you in more ways than inner beauty? We always hear that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, beauty is skin deep and something more which I cannot recall. But, do those words hold true? Isn't it of human nature to like something beautiful and perfect? So, when people say, it is okay if you are not good looking, as long as you have a good noble heart, is it sufficient? If so, then why do people go for plastic surgery such as breast augmentation, nose job, face lift etc etc? Is their inner beauty not sufficient or just their confidence?

So how much does physical beauty help you? Let's say in a job interview, would you choose a good looking employee over a not so good looking one, assuming that academic qualification is not the factor into consideration maybe in a job like a secretary or a clerk or receptionist. And what about being brand ambassadors? There are rarely any brand ambassadors, especially female ones, which are ugly. That holds true too for the film industry and also music industry. Beautiful actress gets to play the role of a heroine, likewise for handsome actors, unless of course you are in a Stephen Chow production where he casts ugly girls =) like in Shaolin Soccer and God of Cookery. As for music industry, Kelly Clarkson is obviously more famous than Fantasia Barrino although their vocal prowess should be about equal, but in terms of look, I guess Kelly is more sellable =)

Okay, let's not venture too far. Something closer to hand. When you check out girls or guys, the more stunning ones get more looks while the morbidly obese ones with terrible grooming get stares. As for guys, those with looks and body get more ogling than those with plain looks. Speaking of body, have you noticed that nowadays, many Asian stars are buffing up their bodies?
Examples are like

Remember when he first produced his album, he wasn't so buffed up =)

JJ Lin, recently wearing lesser and lesser, apparently trying to show off some muscles =)

Can't find a bigger picture of Wang Lee Hom, he most probably build those muscles for his concert

Now, even our local stars, if you know who Nicholas Chung is

Nicholas also buffed up his body to look more manly I suppose =) Not that it has really increased his popularity. Tee Hee Hee. I'm mean.

Now for some eye-candy. Promise you (girls) don't drool when you see the pictures okay =)

If you think this is rather hot, you will salivate at this one..

Daniel Wu showing his pubic hair =O Please control your drooling

So, are these guys building up their bodies for self confidence or just to get more attention, either way, the girls like them and will willingly do anything to see them naked I think. LOL. Conversely, if you are thin and scrawny, spot some rainbow coloured hair or some ghastly colour like platinum blond, wear shirt with mega collar, bell bottom jeans and super pointed leather shoes, you get to be called Lala or Ah Beng here in KL. However, if you only have a scrawny body, you would most probably be laughed at still. But if you look at it in a different way, there are 3 body types, namely endomorph, ectomorph and mesomorph. Those who are mesomorphs are the luckiest as they would be the one who will be called macho and body beautiful like the pictures above. If you are an endomorph, you would most probably be called a fatty for a major part of your life, and vice versa if you are an ectomorph, bag of bones would be your common nickname.

Now an interesting thing I found on a website, Brad Pitt is an ectomorph means he must have worked very very very hard to be able to reach his state now. Hrmm, I wonder if FengY can do it =)

Back to the topic, so does physical beauty really matters? Sure it does, it gives you an edge no matter what you do, more so if you are a girl. You get to be models, brand ambassadors, get free drinks no matter where you go, and if you flirt a little, you might even get cheaper or free things. No wonder everyone is obsessed to be in that category. Can't really blame anyone here can we? As for guys, the advantages are still there but not as numerous as guys. So it does really pay to be good looking. If you can't get it in your genes, go manufacture it =) It's worth every single cent you invest in.

As for educating the children, you just have to let them know that inner beauty, no matter how important it is, I think still ranks below physical beauty in the short term. After all, first impression counts!