One more thought from Fawcett Hall – this time something to muse over at your leisure….
On the Saturday night, the Ladies were required to wear only their corsets and stockings for dinner. As we entered the Drawing room, we were all garbed in long cloaks and masks, collars about our throats, numbers attached to the collars. Each of the gentlemen had already been given a lead with a number and to find their dinner partner, they had to match their lead to a lady’s collar. Only then could they unmask her and see whom they had the pleasure of dining with.
I took along our collection of Venetian masks, which I have built up over the years. One of them, which HWMBO usually wears, is an astonishingly ugly devil mask, which is actually quite frightening to look at.
So I decided to wear that one, with the hood of my black velvet cloak up – a nice contrast to the pretty girly masks of the other ladies and (I hoped) an equally nice contrast for my dining partner when the mask came off.
As we processed in, several of the chaps exclaimed or shuddered at my mask. I felt almost rejected by this, but smiled, remembering why I’d done it and was rewarded with a look of deep appreciation from my dining companion when the mask came off.
Later, when I was thinking about this, it made me remember how much easier it is in life for pretty people, both men and women. There’s an astonishing statistic that attractive women get paid, on average, a 25% premium on their starting salaries than their plainer colleagues. And it’s not just the world of work either – in the scene, the prettiest girls get snapped up for play first.
I suppose it’s to be expected – after all, I’d rather play with Alan Rickman than Ian Holm, so nobody is immune. But it would be nice if occasionally, playmates saw beneath the veneer and looked at what lay beneath, as in the classic fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast. Yes, the lovely Belle falls in love with the Beast before she knows that underneath, he is a handsome prince. But at the end, he turns back into the Prince. He doesn’t stay as the Beast!
All is not lost however. It was my mother that once pointed out that initial attraction is based on looks, but abiding relationships are built on so much more, mutuality, commonality, similar instincts, truthfulness and above all, kindness and generosity of spirit. And it doesn’t matter what your mask is like, you can’t disguise those things. They tend to shine through, no matter that you do.
I think like all things, being pretty has it’s upsides and downsides, it might mean that you get doors held open for you and people buy you drinks, but it also means that you’re less likely to be taken seriously, people don’t see a brain, people see lips-tits-hips. Anyway, you shouldn’t complain, you’re pretty so you might as well just enjoy the advantages that it gives you.
Jessica, beauty lays in the eyes of the beholder, and is much more that skin deep.
One may in the first instance be attracted by a pretty face a, trim figure, or indeed a hot bot.
But should one stop there. one is only looking for a trophy, and I would suggest hasn’t much more to offer oneself.
Going by what little I know of you Jessica, I doubt that you have much to fear in that direction.
Warm hugs,
Paul.