Friday, January 6, 2012

The Death of Pretty

I really enjoyed this short article, "The Death of Pretty," in The National Catholic Register by Pat Archibald.  Archibald points out that women used to display an essence of beauty, innocence, and virtue, whether or not they really were.

"By nature, generally when men see this combination in women it brings out their better qualities, their best in fact.  That special combination of beauty and innocence, the pretty inspires men to protect and defend it."

However, now days, "Young women today do not seem to aspire to pretty, they prefer to be regarded as hot. Hotness is something altogether different. . . .  It is ironic that 40 years of women’s liberation has succeeded only in turning women into a commodity.  Something to be used up and thrown out. . . .But here is the real truth.  Most men prefer pretty over hot. . . . Our problem is that society doesn’t value innocence anymore, real or imagined. . . .  Nobody wants to be thought of as innocent, the good girl.  They want to be hot, not pretty.  I still hope that pretty comes back, although I think it not likely any time soon."