|
|
Women
Beauty
The topic of beauty of woman is, indeed, very interesting as woman
herself. It has been the favourite theme of bards of all times. It has
been the inspiration for all our immortal works of art- in literature,
painting, sculpture and so on. After paying due praise to beauty, when we
think more practically, we realize the truth of the maxim-“Beauty is
skin-deep” and also that beauty is not at all a necessary condition for
happiness.
Down the ages, as learnt from history and mythology, beauty of a woman has
brought only havoc to families, societies and nations as a whole. Kingdoms
have fallen, battles are fought and thousands are slain. The beauty of
Cleopatra changed the fate of the Roman Empire, killing so many heroes.
The beauty of Sita incited Ravana to abduct her, leading to his downfall,
however great his worth and achievements were. The beauty of Helen of Troy
was the cause for all the trouble-filled adventures narrated in Homer’s
“Illiad” and “Odyssey”. In view of these facts it is very doubtful whether
extraordinary beauty is a bane or blessing to a woman and those around
her.
A woman, of course, must and can look pleasant to make a happy home. But
this pleasantness is born rather out of innate radiance, a genial smile, a
well-groomed appearance, a tastefully selected dress and ornaments and not
out of fair complexion, sharp features, tall stature and certain standard
measurements of body parts. Being beautiful, on the other hand, is a gift
by birth and a rare thing also. Most often women who are beautiful by
birth have a tendency to be haughty, looking down upon less beautiful
women with contempt. This is a negative aspect of beauty creating an
atmosphere of jealousy, bitterness and ill-feelings among women.
Considering the natural tendency of the beautiful women to being proud, a
public pampering of their beauty by conducting beauty contests only widens
the rift between the beautiful and the not-so-beautiful.
Beauty contest in the first place, is essentially a part of western
culture. In the past few years the cinema industry of Mumbai and Chennai
have started importing Hollywood fashions much to the chagrin of concerned
elders and well-wishers of society. These fashions have vitiated the minds
of Indian youth and have made them ape the ways and manners of westerners.
The introduction of satellite channels in television has clinched the
cultural tragedy by bringing unabashed scenes of western lifestyle right
into the drawing rooms of conservative Indian homes. In India men and
women do not have the habit of hugging and kissing in public. Our
traditional sense of propriety prohibits such public exhibition of
emotion. Even married partners desist from these acts outside their
bedroom. A clear evidence of culture difference.
The concepts of womanhood and marriage in western society are also
completely different from ours. It is quite common in the West for a woman
to marry and to divorce many times. Divorce and remarriage among Indian
women are comparatively rare. In a society where lifetime marriage
compatibility is in practice, life is peaceful and progressive. It is a
mark of supreme excellence of human civilization. Lifetime partnership in
marriage ensures moral, mental and physical health. It brings real
happiness and fulfillment not found in wife-swapping western culture.
Indian women are different from their western counterparts: they do not
smoke, do not drink, do not roam the streets in semi-nudity. An excellent
sense of values are inculcated in the minds of growing children in Indian
families. The Indian woman wears the priceless jewel of modesty with
pride. She shuns, abhors the shameless gaze or touch of strangers. In our
country only women of ill-repute and sinful profession show off their
beauty with brazen wantonness. Girls from respectable families follow a
clear code of conduct adhering to propriety and decency. Indian culture
has its merits and beauty contests cut at the roots of our national,
social integrity.
The popularity of beautiful women among admirers the world over has,
nowadays, created a very vicious trend in Indian marriage scenario. In the
matrimonial columns of all newspapers and magazines we find advertisements
from eligible bachelors invariably seeking alliance with “tall, fair”
brides. It is surprising to see beauty being so over-emphasized. One
wonders if beauty makes insignificant other essential qualifications which
are to be reasonably expected from a prospective wife. In our society this
growing preference for “tall, fair” brides is a cause for concern. In days
gone by such undue importance was not given to beauty of the bride. People
generally asked, “Is she literate?”, “Does she cook well?”, “Is she good
at housekeeping?”. These virtues weighed more in favor of the bride than
mere physical charm.
The highest glory of Indian woman is her motherhood. Sanctity surrounds
her role as the deity of the home. She is special and dignified. She draws
respect from all quarters. But now she is tempted to flaunt her glamour in
front of everybody. She is degraded to the level of a commercial product
put on exhibition. Marketers flock her to make best use of her glamour to
sell off their products and fill their pockets . It is sheer exploitation.
The beautiful woman succumbs to this attracted by the fame and financial
gains.
Our country (India) is struggling hard to uplift the poor and the
down-trodden. The extravaganza of beauty contests is out of place in a
fast developing country like ours. We cannot afford it. It is atrocious.
The lakhs and crores spent on them can well go to create jobs for the
millions of unemployed youth in our country. We badly need money to tap
our natural resources to the full. There are hosts of important schemes
lying idle for want of funds. There are hundreds of projects for
fulfilling the basic needs of people which are pending completion for
dearth of finance. The money spent in conducting beauty contests can well
be diverted to welfare schemes of the country.
What is there in a beauty contest for the fair sex as a whole to be proud
of? Nothing is gained by crowning a woman as Miss World or Miss Universe.
But much will be gained by reforming the backward societies on the globe
where atrocities are committed against women, where barbarous acts like
circumcision of girls are done to this day. There are many worthwhile
missions like Mother Theresa’s to be carried out. In the grim background
of destitute, wronged and neglected womenfolk all over the world the empty
glamour of a soap bubble-beauty contest-is worthless and shows the callous
indifference of the sponsors to suffering humanity.
–
Pavalamani Pragasam
February 23, 2003
Top | Women
|
|
