"The Light is brighter when compared to the shadows."
Comparison and contrast allows us to define the world and establish a hierarchy. Whether it be what is the best cup of coffee or the prettiest flower, there needs to be a terrible cup of coffee or an ugly flower to compare the best/prettiest to.
So what about that age old question... what is beauty... and the more dreaded... what is ugly?
Women, along with men, have been plagued with these questions and their applications to their own life. A woman will look in the mirror and ask herself if she is pretty enough or a man will wonder if he is too ugly. We play this comparison game to see who will come up on top ("Sexist Man/Woman in the World") and who doesn't ("The Worst Celeb Beach Bodies").
We could ask why it even matters but we have asked ourselves that question far too many times and it still doesn't make a difference. For some reason, our looks do matter, be it for hygiene or mating calls, our appearance plays a role.
Thank goodness for different tastes! Most of my friends are guys and most of those guy friends end up telling me what they are attracted to. Their preferences are so diverse. One guy likes girls with breasts that are the size of "half an apple." One only likes girls who are a size 12 or bigger. One close guy friend of mine likes girls who a rather, and I quote, "dyke." Then there are girls and their preferences for guys. Some care about height. Some care about looks. Many only care about personality. I have one gal pal who is attracted to guys who are shorter than her (and she is only 5'7"). I have another friend who actually is turned off by super "manly" men (and, no, not all the guys she dated are gay... not stereotypically manly does not equal gay and vice versa).
In fact, some of the things society has dubbed as ugly can actually be quite beautiful. Maybe that is the artist in me but I find those unique characteristics that come together to make a person beautiful. The large, bumpy nose is interesting... it's beautiful. The chubby girl with a pot belly is so cute that it's attractive. Not all the time, but maybe some of the things that are ugly by standards can actually be quite beautiful.
