This question cannot be answered properly without taking into account the gender bias of today's world. Women are forced to choose between being clever and being good looking to a much greater degree than men are.

Some people will argue that it is possible to be both clever and stunningly beautiful, but I say that in a world where women are pressured to spend an hour more every day than men do making themselves beautiful, women really are forced to choose. As long as our societal definitions of attractiveness are prescribed by Hollywood and Madison avenue, girls and women will sacrifice valuable time each day tweaking, powdering, straightening and applying makeup. How nice it is to be male and compete against women for promotions, scholarships or reputation and have the advantage of an hour more each day!

This hour is time that women could spend doing homework, researching, reading, resting, and engaging current events-in short, just about anything more stimulating or intellectually and spiritually sustaining than repeating established beauty rituals. Losing an hour one day isn't a big deal, but just imagine the cumulative effect of losing an hour every day from the age of 15 on.

The other difficulty, of course, with our current standards of attractiveness is that when women do choose to opt out of looking like they belong on an episode of Friends, no one takes them seriously. They can be ultra intelligent and well informed, but the more natural they look and the more intelligent or wise they are, the more they are regarded as social deviants and brushed aside.

This is by no means a rant against the media. I refuse to participate in blaming the advertising industry or Hollywood for our current state of affairs. Through consumption we have made them the enormous, highly influential entities that they are today. When we refuse to pay $10 to see a movie simply because the co-star is nearly naked in the previews and, instead, use that same $10 to see the work of actors who are true artists in their craft, then we will be on the road to living in a world where everyone will have a shot at being clever AND good looking.

Learn more about this author, Russell Dawson.
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