Beauty in the eye of the remote-holder

By Melissa Wishart

My old flatmate used to buy magazines full of girls in teeny tiny bikinis, and I’d sit down and go through them with Sacha so we could point out the flaws on each girl.

Now, I know that sounds horribly bitchy and shallow, but I don’t believe I’m wrong in thinking that a lot of girls probably do this, or do something similar.

The reason, at least for me, is that I want to think: ‘If these girls can be seen as beautiful and sexy with all their flaws, then can I, with all my flaws, be beautiful too?’

I have this theory about hot women, right. There’s plenty of girls in TV and movies which are quite clearly meant to be “the sexy/beautiful/hot ones.” You can tell which one she is because she’ll be introduced to the story in just such a way that we know, we know, that she’s the one.

It could be the music that’s playing when she shows up on screen, the way her hair blows back in the wind – she might shoot a look off into the distance dreamily. Guys will react in some state of awe when they see her, and you bet your ass,  she will be your leading lady.

Here’s the thing: I believe you can get any slightly pretty – nay- average looking woman up on that screen, slap on a little makeup and introduce her like that, and people will think she’s gorgeous. I believe we’re programmed by elements of television and cinema to think this.

I might sound crazy, but the fact is, I’ve seen quite a few people in movies being portrayed as ‘the hot one’, when, to me, they’re not actually all that.

I’m sure some of it can come down to personal preferences, but to be honest, I think a lot of us are more brainwashed by this than we know.

My point isn’t that I want to say other women are ugly. But I know that, for me, it’s nice to think that if average or ugly people can be ‘the hot one’, then there’s a chance for me too. And I’m willing to bet there’s a zillion other girls out there who think the exact same way as me.

So yeah, I’ll pick on the girls in my flatmate’s magazine, because if they’re flawed, they’re just like me.