Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

I know that everyone is talking about her at the moment, but why should I be any different. I have never claimed to be original, and I must say that Susan Boyle, the frumpy and unexpected celebrity from Britain's Got Talent has got a lot of people thinking and hopefully examining their prejudices. We all have them, I know that i am heavily prejudiced against any form of religion, and when I saw this woman appear onstage and listened to her interview, I, like many people did judge the book by its cover. She does not have the looks of a celebrity, she is dumpy, plain and badly dressed, and yet she has the most amazing voice. As soon as she sang she had the judges looking embarrassed at their own attitudes and the audience on its feet. It was a phenomenon. A hugely sceptical and negative audience was transformed into a standing ovation within a few seconds. I think this says much more about human behaviour than it does about Susan Boyle, who knew that she could sing.

We do make hasty assessments of people and this has become so true in modern times where many people are obsessed with the way they look. It is not just women who are caught up in this need to look young and fashionable, and much of western economy is dependent on people being dissatisfied with their appearance. Hair colouring, make up, designer clothes, perfumes, detox, botox, all of these suck in the money of the foolish like sum huge maelstrom, and yet however people look they still want more and more changes. Yesterdays outfit is so.........yesterday, and people with vast wardrobes full of hardly worn garments rush out to buy the latest labels claiming that they have nothing to wear. And so, someone is seen wearing out of date clothes poor make up and who does not fit the mould is seen as somehow unworthy.

Ok I know that I don't give a damn for trends or fashion. I keep myself clean and generally tidy, but confess to wearing clothes until they wear out, and i don't actually care much what people think about me, but I am sure that there are many whose lives are made miserable by their inability to fit into other people's expectations. Obsession with appearance in my opinion is shallow, and appears to be a form of desparation. We cannot cling on to youth and by wearing the latest fashions, all we are saying is that we have no minds of our own. You might as well go to church!