Emergence

Dorothy: “Well excuse me, but I thought witches were old and ugly.”
Glinda: “Only bad witches are ugly.”

The other day, my daughter was watching her favorite movie “The Wizard of Oz” and the following quote mentioned above perked my interest. Maybe I’m being too analytical here, but it sounds to me like the message can also be interpreted to suggest that bad = ugly and good = beautiful.

Not too surprising since our culture upholds beauty in such high esteem, but children seem to get it early. How many unattractive Disney princesses or less than handsome princes do you know? But what is more problematic is when beauty is equated with goodness, elevating appearance to some kind of virtue.

See the problem is that most of us (and I mean this in a good way) are not very attractive people, at least not on the level of Hollywood models. So when someone like Susan Boyle shows that she can actually sing, it’s a news story… because after all, isn’t it just beautiful people who are capable of such talent?

I often hear the argument that traditional cultures are demeaning to women because they impose an image of a woman whose main purpose is cooking and having babies. I agree that is wrong, but doesn’t every culture impose a standard for woman (and for men) to attain? Doesn’t the modern western culture tell a woman that she must look a certain way, dress a certain way, to be desirable. Just ask the average teenage girl who her role model is.

The thing is, people who are less attractive in this world have the opportunity to become really ‘great’ in many ways. Having to overcome the cultural ideal telling them they don’t match up… they become strong internally. They realize sooner than later that external beauty doesn’t define them. For even the most moral person that ever lived wasn’t beautiful to be desired… as it was written (Isaiah 53:2).