Examining The History Of Ugliness Shows There Is No Such Thing (Article)

I have strong feelings about the concept of ugliness, appropriate because ugliness is a strong concept. I have a friend who once told me that, in his opinion, I was “All about the pretty” which is not quite right. Actually I am all about the beautiful which is  a much more powerful and challenging aesthetic. And ugliness is often beautiful. I encourage reading this impressive article.

…”Hag is not a nice word. Yet there comes a time in every woman’s life when nice is tedious, when nice is insipid, seeping into the soul like souring milk, warping the mind. Indeed, nice can, at times, be all that is offensive.”
~ Emma Restall Orr – Kissing the Hag.

In the 19th century, a hirsute aboriginal woman from Mexico named Julia Pastrana was billed on the freak-show circuit as “The Ugliest Woman in the World.” Brought to Europe, she performed according to Victorian norms: singing and dancing, speaking in foreign languages, undergoing public medical examinations, and other spectacle entertainments. Both in her lifetime and…

via The history of ugliness shows that there is no such thing — Quartz