Does Beauty Help Goodness?

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXI, Issue IX, 29 August 1903, Page 638

Does Beauty Help Goodness?

Mrs. Sarah Tooley discusses in •’The Young Woman" the question. "Is Beauty a Help to Goodness?" She -ays it ought to l>e. and quotes Emerson, that “beauty is the mark that God sets upon virtue." An artist to whom rhe question was put answered with an emphatic negative. He said the most beautiful girl model he ever had talked like a costermonger. EFFEI T OF BEAUTY ON WORK— Mrs. Tooley goes on to indicate some of the drawbacks to the possession of beauty. The ]>ossessor tends to think there is no need to excel in any other way. She says: "A really lovely girl, perfect from the sole of her dainty foot to the crown of her pretty head, is apt to be so content with herself that she despises the cultivation of her mind, and takes no trouble to be thoughtful and courteous in manner. The hard grind of toil to gain p rfection in art literature m- music, seems needless to the favoured child of Nature." —AND ON TALK. With somewhat unfeeling candour Mis. Tooley -hows hi w beauty spoils talk. She says: "Pretty women rarely excel as conversationalists. To put it baldly, they are thinking to much about themselves are too conscious of their personal attraction to talk earnestly and well. They suffer also from the fact that men prefer ehit-chat with a pretty women to strenuous discussion. She is expected to be an adept at small talk, and is afraid of spoiling her reputation for attraction by permitting herself to express opinions." This defect. Mrs. Tooley rightly says, is the fault of the men: "When men demand that a woman shall not only look beautiful, but Ire well-in-formed. entertaining, and a good conversationalist. girls will strain their ener gies in that direction." THE GREATEST SOCIAL SUCCESS. Plain but clever women nearly always talk well, she thinks, and to-dve S' dal compensation by winning the attention of men tired of the ‘•chattering of butterflies." She thinks that the greatest social success lies between tie two extremes in the moderately g< od-looking women who have charm and intelligen •e. Mr-. Tooley grants that a beautiful girl is credited with goodness until it is proved to the contrary. "Juries are proverbially blind to the crimes of a pretty woman." Lady journalists who are prett- are said to succeed better with rdi-

ters tlia:. those who are not. EFFECT OF LACK OF BEAUTY. The moral effect on women of their lack of beauty is thus suggested: "An ill-favoured face and defective body are undoubtedly the cause of much spite and ill-temp i in women, and this must alway- be the case so long as beauty remains woman's most valuable asset. Indeed, people of both sexes have been known to recover self-respect and become more agreeable in the family

circle sifter a visit to the dentist or a fashionable wig-maker, ami the possession of a becoming costume has had the good moral effect of putting many a girl into an angelic mood. I have heard of a woman who became a sunbeam in her home after discovering that someone still admired her hands. There can be little doubt that the zest of life, and consequently the impetus towards good, is gone for the person who no longer has some form of attraction. Women will not sink into the demoralising state of

utter self-depreciation so long as even their finger-nails are oval and bright.” The writer balances advantages thus: "The attractive girl is open to greater temptation than her plainer sister. She is more liable to be drawn aside from the path of virtue, is in greater danger of being rendered vain and selfish by the adulation which she receives, and therefore beauty does not apparently help towards goodness. On the other hand, the possession of a lovely face and form is such a satisfaction in itself that it ought to, and often does, promote good temper and agreeable manners. The "wise people say that a woman or girl never appears at greater advantage than when she is conscious of looking her best.” She naturally concludes by questioning whether the good results produced by beauty on its possessor outweigh the evil. Among letters on the article may be mentioned one from Walter Crane, in which he says that beautiful women are generally bright, quick and clever, and that "the beautiful is higher than the ’good. Mrs. Oscar Beringer thinks that the possession of beauty is likely to help the onlooker more than the possessor. Miss Everett-Green thinks that purelv physical and skin-deep beauty is not uelpful. Hal H.irst puts the case pitnilv when he says: "God s choicest gift to us poor mortals is a beautiful woman—with goodness: without—the Devws offering. Both are supremely delightful. It greatly depends on which road we are travelling.”