[Opinion] The Beauty of Women

American men were asked in a study to hold their hands in icy water as long as possible. They tended to hold it longer in the presence of a beautiful lady. Some men even stretched themselves too thin, getting frost bite. German psychologist Ulrich Renz proved empirically the common belief that a beautiful kid gets more kisses from his or her mother and pretty female offenders receive more leniencies. American author Naomi Wolf once said that women who have liberated themselves from kids and house chores now face the threat posed by being beautiful.

Madeline Heilman and Melanie H. Stopeck, authors of “Attractiveness and Corporate Success: Different Causal Attributions for Males and Females,” dispute the correlation between beauty and success in their book, arguing that the higher a woman climbs up in society, the better it is to be less sexy. They explain that people have a prejudice and believe that charm exuded by successful, beautiful women helped them into the position. Thus, according to them, an ambitious woman should hide her beauty in pants than show it off in skirts, if she wants to run up the rungs of success. Maybe, therefore, a successful and beautiful woman is a fancy idea conjured up by media.

The global community got surprised when Carmen Chacon, 37, the first woman defense minister in Spain, reviewed troops with her pregnant form on display. As her first act as defense minister, she visited Spanish troops in Afghanistan in a loose-fitting blouse, pants and military boots, accompanied by her doctor. Critical voices belittling her for her lack of military background lost credence with her trip. Traditionally proud of its macho heritage, the U.S. Marines have run a recruitment ad featuring a female marine soldier in camouflage with the tag line, “Get a makeover that’s more than skin deep."

People tended to identify women’s beauty with beauty in appearance. Now, we understand the concept as their ability and competence in accomplishing a task. Yi So-yeon, the first Korean who completed space travel, never lost her calm and pleasant personality throughout the risky and difficult space journey. She spent 10 hours everyday during her 9-day space mission conducting 18 scientific experiments. But she was always pleasant and clam. People value the beauty of Taiwan’s President-elect Ma Ying-jeou’s wife higher than famous celebrities. She shines even without makeup and in plain jeans. Now, a new era has begun when a woman is judged not by her beauty, but by her accomplishments.