Rosie vs. Ugly Betty
Going back to what I said the other day about Rosie O'Donnell....
I was trying to think of other "unattractive" women in popular culture, and was soon astounded that I hadn't thought of the obvious candidate: Ugly Betty.
Hmm. I don't think Ugly Betty counts, and here's why.
We can tolerate "unattractive" women as long as they appear sort of trodden-on by "beautiful" society, sort of goofy, clumsy, hapless. But make that woman 100% outspoken, confident, and upfront, and she's vilified. Heck, such a woman becomes a target for the U-word even when she's a paragon of traditional beauty. People criticized Nigella Lawson when she first went on TV as being "too bosomy and bottomy." Well, that's what she looks like - what's she supposed to do?
I know Ugly Betty is supposed to be about how shallow all the pretty people are. And it's good that way. But wouldn't it be real progress to show us an "ugly" gal without bringing the discussion of looks into the equation?
Or maybe that's not possible?
I was trying to think of other "unattractive" women in popular culture, and was soon astounded that I hadn't thought of the obvious candidate: Ugly Betty.
Hmm. I don't think Ugly Betty counts, and here's why.
We can tolerate "unattractive" women as long as they appear sort of trodden-on by "beautiful" society, sort of goofy, clumsy, hapless. But make that woman 100% outspoken, confident, and upfront, and she's vilified. Heck, such a woman becomes a target for the U-word even when she's a paragon of traditional beauty. People criticized Nigella Lawson when she first went on TV as being "too bosomy and bottomy." Well, that's what she looks like - what's she supposed to do?
I know Ugly Betty is supposed to be about how shallow all the pretty people are. And it's good that way. But wouldn't it be real progress to show us an "ugly" gal without bringing the discussion of looks into the equation?
Or maybe that's not possible?
Labels: Women
posted by Christine Borne at 12:52 PM
2 Comments:
I think Ugly Betty is a bad example because...well, she's not ugly. I often refer to the show as "Not-So-Ugly Betty".
She's only "Ugly Betty" because the folks around her in the show are obsessed with a narrow standard of beauty.
Would I chat with a woman that looked like "Ugly Betty" in a coffee house? Absolutely.
Donald Trump was right about Rosie. I hate to admit it but he was. She delievers her opinions in a really coarse and self-serving way. And, no, it's not right when men do it either. She is almost like Bill O'Reilly but she doesn't lie as much.
Oh, and Rosie's only unattractive because of her coarse personality...
Bosomy and bottomy...as you know, I am an African-American man. We have different standards of beauty and bosomy and bottomy are good things from out perspective :-).
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