The ugly truth behind our obsession with beauty

A woman ascends to the throne of a fiercely male-dominated kingdom and not only survives, but thrives, and years later, what is her legacy reduced to in the photo's byline? She apparently had a weight problem!

Here's another piece of beauty-focused news that made me laugh out loud. "The Tudors" is a new Showtime TV series that stars young Irish hunk Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as Henry the VIII. Like any work of historical drama that aims to be commercial and palatable to the general TV viewing public, liberties are taken with character names, timelines, physical appearances, but how ridiculous is the thought of Rhys-Meyers (the spitting image of a young Elvis, all chiseled good looks, pouting lips and cheekbone perfection) portraying Henry the VIII. A king who was, by all accounts, extremely overweight, had a waist measurement of 54 inches and suffered from gout! I mean, come on! We've all seen historical films that have stretched the truth a little, but this is beyond historical inaccuracy; this is history on acid!

And yet, our society's obsession/preference for beauty does not end there. In fact, it is so prevalent, that even when a role calls for an "ugly" person, they get a beautiful person to portray them. As if the mere thought of an average person on the screen might offend us! In "Being John Malkovich" the gorgeous Cameron Diaz gets "uglified" for the role of the frizzy-haired frump, while beautiful Spanish actress America Ferrera portrays "Ugly Betty" with the help of ridiculous glasses, braces and an ill-fitting poncho.

To argue that our society values beauty would be to argue that Montreal has a problem with its road infrastructure. It's a known fact; what's to discuss? But news articles like the above make me realize to what extent the problem exists and how pervasive and blatant this discrimination is.

"Beauty is a currency system like the gold standard," explained Naomi Wolf, years ago in "The Beauty Myth". She inevitably, and unfortunately, went on a feminist tangent afterwards, explaining how this currency system keeps women down, but I am convinced that this preference for beauty affects men, as much as it does women, these days.

Study upon study has proven that, as a society, we prefer good looking people. Whether a biological predisposition, closely associated with human evolution (scientists believe that symmetry in features may indicate fertility in women and faster swimming sperm in men) or just a societal expectation, the fact remains that this bias exists.

Research analyst Kristie Engemann and economist Michael Owyang looked at the possible link between appearance and salary and everyone who's seen the popular "Dateline" exposés, already knows the answer. It's unfortunate, but it pays to be tall, slender and attractive.

Judge Judy may claim that "beauty is skin deep, while dumb is forever" and she's absolutely right, but one can't help but wonder: if Helen of Troy were just average looking, would hers have been the face that "launched a thousand ships"?