Why men are not ‘beautiful’

Newspapers and magazines are full of beauty queens and beautiful women in various spheres. Books have been written on beautiful women such as Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, Elizabeth Taylor, Princess Diana and Marilyn Monroe. What is more, there are many magazines devoted to promote beautiful women. However, we never talk about ‘beautiful’ men. We simply say “He is a handsome man”, reserving the word ‘beautiful’ for women.

Now that man has almost conquered the distant planet Mars, there is a possibility that some Martians would visit the earth and find that men are infinitely more worthy of admiration than women. They may realise that men are more intelligent and ‘beautiful’ than women. However, by some quirk of fate, men have become a confused lot. They do not see any beauty in themselves, but see beauty only in women!

It is time that man took a long and hard look at himself to decide whether he should reconsider his plight on earth. First of all, he must look at the animal world where all the males are more beautiful than females. The peacock is a shining example. Can a peahen hold a candle to the peacock as far as beauty is concerned?

Misconception

According to an old adage, beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. Over the centuries man has been conditioned to view woman as a beautiful creature relegating himself to play second fiddle. Nobody knows how or when this absurd misconception occurred in human history. Man has relegated his own values and judgement, believing that woman is more beautiful than him.

Mary Wollstonecraft: “Let woman share the rights and she will emulate the virtues of man.”

Authors and poets have taken all the trouble to endow woman with qualities such as intelligence, beauty, gentleness, compassion and empathy. Man also believes that woman has a sixth sense or intuition which lies outside the five senses. With all such supposedly high and admirable qualities, no woman has founded a religion or shot to prominence as a leading philosopher except a few.

Simone de Beauvoir, the French novelist and philosopher, was a notable exception. She was largely responsible for inaugurating the modern feminist movement. Although she wrote The Ethics of Ambiguity and The Second Sex, considered to be the mirror of her philosophical insight, she has been marginalised because of her feminism. Once she said, “One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.”

Feminist philosopher

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759 - 1797) is another feminist philosopher who campaigned for the rights of women and men as well. Her Vindication of the Rights of Women was preceded by a pamphlet Vindication of the Rights of Man . She said, “Let woman share the rights and she will emulate the virtues of man.” Encouraging women to be “docile and attentive to their looks” in a male-dominated world, Wollstonecraft said, “Marriage is merely legal prostitution.”

It is interesting to ascertain why men stick to their old wives who have lost much of their beauty. Given the choice, many men would change their older wives for younger women. However, this is not always possible because of grown-up children, grandchildren and social mores. What is more, when men get old they prefer to keep what they already have.

Women should be happy that most men never consider themselves handsome although many of them possess some kind of beauty. Men work hard to keep the home fires burning. Unless they are struck down by a debilitating disease, most men remain sturdy even in their old age. While elderly men spend their time in profitable work, most elderly women confine themselves to their own homes, looking after children and grandchildren.

Cosmetics

Most men remain attractive without the use of cosmetics or cosmetic surgery. Some men dye their hair to gain a youthful look. Even if they do not do so, they will look handsome with their grey hair and keen intellect. A woman, when she reaches her old age, tends to neglect her body. Most women give up the struggle to stay beautiful in their old age.

It is tragic that man has not realised his own good looks. He is just like an elephant that does not know its own strength. This is because some authors and poets have exaggerated the feminine beauty. As a result, man thinks he is always inferior to woman where good looks are concerned. Or it may be that man thinks beauty is not something to worry about because there are many lofty aspects of life that need priority.