This was inspired by the blog by kittyhasclaws where she asks “Whatever happened to all of the classically beautiful women?” Well, if you'll let me I will answer.

A man goes into a hamburger chain. Whichever one. It's not important. They go in and see what's on the menu. Hamburgers are the main feature. Time was, he remembers from his youth, that when you went to a restaurant and ordered a hamburger they really only had one type of hamburger and they would dress it however you wanted (with cheese, tomato, whatever) and a whole bunch of other stuff on the menu.

But this is in contrast to that. They have at least a dozen variations on the same slab of meat, each claiming to be it's own unique sandwich. But it's not. The meat, the buns, and the toppings are all the same. They are just rearranged in different ways. Two pieces of bread with one slab of meat. Two pieces of bread with two slabs of meat. Two pieces of bread with two slabs of meat and a little baby piece of bread between both slabs of meat. Sure, they disguise the fact by coming up with names that sound impressive for the sandwiches: The Big Buddy, The King-a-nator, El Magnifico. But it's all just the same sandwich repackaged in different ways.

And that's something that Hollywood and the rest of the Entertainment Industry have discovered as well. Instead of selling a million movie tickets to see a million movies, they make more profit by having one million people pay to see the same movie. Instead of selling a billion albums the profit margins are higher if all of those albums are not from different groups but just one performer. Lack of diversity is easier. It makes things simpler. It makes more money.

By now you can probably see where I'm going with this. Women are not only sexually dimorphous from men, they have an extremely broad range of differences. The amounts of curves, and in what places. How much hair and where it is. Add these variables to some of the standard hight and weight issues and before long you come up with a simple conclusion. There is a huge variety of beautiful women in the world.

Some have very little up top, while others have breasts that when lactating could end hunger in small impoverished nations. Some have slender hips while others have legs that would give Robert Crumb apoplectic fits. Some are tall. Some have muscles. Some are tiny pixies. There is a variation in skin tone, texture, fitness...well, I could go on and on but it's obviously so mammoth that it boggles the mind.

And so many of them are beautiful.

But that's not what counts to those who are aiming their sights lower. Much lower. Just like marketers who want to concentrate on as few products as necessary, many feel that if a woman does not “fit” a certain category she is simply not beautiful. She is ugly simply by the virtue that she is curvy. Or that she's black. Or that she has downy hair on her upper lip. In fact, these people would prefer you to believe that for all of those differences that women have, each difference makes them ugly. To the point where few women are beautiful, and most are simply tolerated.

So what makes a person ugly and what makes them beautiful? They do. To oversimplify, Roald Dahl said in his children's book The Twits “A person who has good thoughts can never be ugly though. Whether you have a wonky mouth, a crooked nose, or a double chin, if you think good thoughts, they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.” Conversely, Dahl explains, even if you are an attractive person, let evil hold it's sway over you and time will take care of turning you ugly. The woman who's skin is now leather from the vanity of botox injections and tanning beds. The footballer who's sloth has turned his high-school charisma into a bald pate and doughy physique. The people who obviously care more about alcohol or cigarettes or meth or even chocolate than their own health. Time and their own vices allow their ugliness to come through.

So every time I see some poor girl who's spine is poking through her back...who's ribs can be easily counted and who's legs and arms are thin as possible without breaking...When I see her and the guys who are looking at her and saying “Damn that bitch is hot and ready to tap.” In that case, I know I have seen something very ugly. Even when it is a person out on the street. Even when it's a Hollywood star.