On beauty

I'm reading Jacob Bernstein's powerful homage to his late mother, the great Nora Ephron.

In an earlier post, I invoked Joseph Campbell in reference to Marianne Williamson. My point at the time was that her theology is not rock-solid, but that doesn't mean she has nothing to say (or that she can't invoke theology in saying it). In "A Woman's Worth," she talks a lot about Queens and Goddesses... and about how the constant messaging of "you don't look good enough" distracts women from becoming the Queens that they are. This idea that it's up to us to paint ourselves into something that's desirable is just a crock of horse$hit. I'm not going to go all beauty-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder on you, but take it from these guys:

Mr. Campbell:

Woman is the guide to the sublime acme of sensuous adventure. By deficient eyes she is reduced to inferior states; by the evil eye of ignorance she is spellbound to banality and ugliness. But she is redeemed by the eyes of understanding. The hero who can take her as she is, without undue commotion but with the kindness and assurance she requires, is potentially the king, the incarnate god, of her created world.

 — The Hero with a Thousand Faces

Mr. Bernstein (in reference to his mother):

All sorts of men had rejected her when she was younger as cute but not beautiful. She wrote about it, turned it into a comic riff — everything is copy — but privately, it was heartbreaking for her until this noble man came along and made her feel that she was as fabulous to look at as she was to talk to.

Wow.