Shallow view on a skin deep thing

Disclaimer: it goes without my saying: Strictly my views - don't quote me...unless you really want to quote me.


So (South African) Twitter was in a frenzy recently because of one name: "Tasneem Motara", the beautiful MP who was part of the SONA (State of the Nation Address) Debate. I swear I learnt all about Tasneem faster than I got up to speed on our (back then) little known, newly appointed Minister of Finance, David van Rooyen. Side note: I'm still struggling to reconcile his name with his actual physical appearance, but "what's in a name", right?

Anyway, the question is, would  people have taken note if Tasneem wasn't beautiful? Probably not - well she wouldn't have been #trending at least.

I know that most women would probably view this as a problem. I beg to differ. *runs and hides away from staunch feminists*

See, I don't think that's the problem. I don't see how it's a problem. Humans are visual creatures. Men even more so. We see before we hear. That's just the way we're built. I use to have a problem with that, being seen before being heard, but that's not in your control. The downside is that good looking people just have to work harder to prove that they're "not just a pretty face". I mean how else did that saying come about? I've never heard someone say "she's not just an intelligent brain" and rarely do I hear people say "AND shes beautiful" it's always " AND she's smart"...because the beauty is established way before. Equally so, why is "beauty and brains" a thing? Why never "character and brains"? ...please draw me a picture of character while you think of that one.

If someone doesn't know you, they will judge you by the way you look and more often than not, subconsciously draw the conclusion on where you rank on the intellect scale. The more beautiful or the more "narcissistic" you are, the less smart they think you are. Like this one friend of mine for example. People always think he's just a pretty boy who's obsessed about his body, dress code and girls but that boy is probably one of the smartest people I've ever met. I've once told someone how smart he is and that person responded "oh, he doesn't look it". How does smart look like exactly? Oh wait, thick glasses, crooked teeth, bad hair and  a pimply face. Cause let's face it, the typical nerd in all those cartoons we grew up watching was never 1.8m tall and hella good looking....

In his book "Beauty Pays: Why Attractive People Are More Successful" (2011), economist Daniel Hamermesh reveals research that shows attractive people get paid more, are hired sooner, promoted faster and get more company perks.

But nonetheless, back to Tasneem. She's a breathe of fresh air and that's why everybody took note. Humans like pretty things. And good looking people are usually overtly confident. Makes people want to be like her/him. Now imagine being good looking AND smart. Then you are basically ruler of the universe. You've won in this life thing.