Being ugly will set you free
The default assumption tends to be that it is politically important to designate everyone as beautiful, that it is a meaningful project to make sure that everyone can become, and feel, increasingly beautiful. We have hardly tried to imagine what it might look like if our culture could do the opposite—de-escalate the situation, make beauty matter... See more
Jia Tolentino • Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion
Beauty is not good capital. It compounds the oppression of gender. It constrains those who identify as women against their will. It costs money and demands money. It colonizes. It hurts. It is painful. It can never be fully satisfied. It is not useful for human flourishing. Beauty is, like all capital, merely valuable.
Tressie McMillan Cottom • Thick: And Other Essays
“I think this is like a widespread public health issue, and the way to start solving it is has got to be part of a bigger collective political movement, really, focusing on solving the inequality of beauty versus the insecurity of beauty, and once the inequality of beauty is addressed, the insecurity will naturally follow that pattern”
Zeynab Mohamed • Can Beauty Be A Source Of Joy?
I think taking pride in and putting time and money towards your appearance is a positive thing if coming from a place of love for oneself, as watering a plant is done because you want it to stay healthy and grow. I think the emphasis should be less about beauty and instead about decentering men and refusing to fit inside the box the patriarchy puts... See more