01 What is beauty? Define beauty? One may as 02 well dissect a soap bubble. We know it when we 03 see it - or so we think. 04 Philosophers define it as a moral equation. 05 What is beautiful is good, said Plato. Poets look 06 for high standards. Beauty is truth, truth is beauty, 07 wrote John Keats. 08 Science examines beauty and pronounces it 09 a strategy. "Beauty is health", a psychologist tells 10 me. "It’s a sign saying ’I’m healthy and fertile. I 11 can pass on your genes.’ " 12 At its best, beauty celebrates. From the painted 13 Txikão Indian in Brazil to Madonna in her metal 14 bra, humanity likes to abandon its everyday look 15 and masquerade as a more powerful, romantic, 16 or sexy being. 17 At its worst, beauty discriminates. Studies 18 suggest attractive people make more money, get 19 more attention in class and are seen as friendlier. 20 We do judge people by their looks. In an era of 21 feminist and politically correct values, not to 22 mention the belief that all men and women are 23 created equal, the fact that all men and women 24 are not - and that some are more beautiful than 25 others - disturbs, confuses, even angers. 26 The search for beauty is costly. In the United 27 States last year people spent six billion dollars on 28 fragrance and another six billion on make up. In 29 the mania to lose weight 20 billions were spent on 30 diet products and services - in addition to the 31 billions that were paid out for health club 32 memberships and cosmetic surgery. 33 The sad, sometimes ugly side of beauty: In a 34 1997 magazine survey, 15 percent of women and 35 11 percent of men sampled said they’d sacrifice 36 more than five years of their life to be at their ideal 37 weight. According to one study, 80 percent of 38 women are dissatisfied with their bodies. In one 39 of its worst manifestations, discontent with one’s 40 body can wind up as an eating disorder, such as 41 anorexia or bulimia. Both can be fatal. Today 42 eating disorders, once mostly limited to wealthy 43 Western cultures, occur around the world, in 44 countries as different as Fiji, Japan and Argentina. 45 The preoccupation with beauty can be a 46 neurosis, and yet there is something therapeutic 47 about paying attention to how we look and feel. 48 "People are so quick to say beauty is superficial", 49 says Ann Marie Gardner, beauty director of W 50 magazine. "They’re fearful. They say: ’It doesn’t 51 have substance.’ What many don’t realize is that 52 it’s fun to reinvent yourself, as long as you don’t
53 take it too seriously."

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