Husbands prefer plain women

Title

Language

English

Year

1939

Subject

Man-woman relationships

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

^“Handsome is as handsome does”— HUSBANDS PREFER PLAIN WOMEN I HAD always considered my ac quaintance Z an extremely lucky man, because although he him self was really quite an ordina ry, unsuccessful little chap, he had a most beautiful and charm ing wife. She really was lovely, fascinatingly so, and dressed ex quisitely. But recently they asked me to visit them, and I have now changed my views. I still think that she is one of the most beau tiful and charming women I have ever met, but I do not think he is at all lucky. Be cause their home is quite one of the most neglected and ineffi ciently run I have ever encount ered, and I have a shrewd suspi cion that Z has to get his own breakfast every morning, as I gathered that his wife, for beau ty reasons, never rises before nine-thirty. Her toilet, to be as perfect as it obviously is, would, I imagine, occupy at least an other hour, and she informs me that she rested every afternoon from two to four. “If only every woman would do this,“ she said with charm ing candor, “they would never have wrinkles, and I do think it is every woman's duty to make the most of her appear ance, don’t you? Looking one’s best is quite as serious a busi ness as any other, and if women will persist in doing their own housework and pottering about the garden they cannot expect to have beautiful hands, can they?’’ glancing appreciatively at her own satin-white and ex quisitely-manicured ones. Expensive beauty-treatments, coiffure, and visits to dress makers must occupy quite a considerable proportion of her day, and as they kept only one not particularly brilliant servant I can fully understand why Z is inclined to be dyspeptic and harassed-looking. And why he so seldom has a new suit or de cent hats and shoes. And why they have no children. And why . . . but why continue? Yet I suppose he is fairly hap py and very proud of his wife. And if he were a rich man he would have every reason to be. But that is just the point. He is not a rich man and is never likely to be. He is just an aver age, pleasant little chap. Would he have secured a bet ter bargain or a fairer deal if he had married a plain woman? It does not follow, of course, that because a woman is plain February, 1939 19 that she is capable, or that she possess compensating qualities such as “niceness,” strength of character, intelligence, personal ity, or charm—but you will generally find that she does. Some plain women spend all their time futilely trying to remedy Nature’s niggardliness; others are merely careless of it. Many, more intelligent, culti vate or develop compensatory qualities, such as a pleasant voice, a good figure, or sport ing prowess. I once knew two girls—one most scintillatingly attractive named Esme, and the other an extremely unprepossessing and uninteresting person whose name does not matter. “Heavens!” exclaimed Esme one day, “why doesn’t that girl do something about her self? Why doesn’t she go in for physical culture to improve her voice and make herself more pop ular at parties, take advantage of the hundred-and-one aids to beauty today within the reach of everyone, and get an expert to tell her what to wear? Look at me. I loathe exercise, but I take it religiously. I detest let tuce and spinach, but for my complexion’s sake I simply gorge the beastly stuff.” I looked and found it easy. But if plain women are not necessarily capable, neither are beautiful women necessarily in capable, even though at cocktail parties they may occasionally be drunk. Still the more homely wom an is less likely to live solely for her appearance. Her home and husband and children would probably receive a fair share of her time and attention. And she would not have to be continually humored, pampered, and admired. A ravishingly beautiful woman must frequent ly cause her husband poignant pangs of jealousy when her too dazzling smile is turned in other directions. Could he ever feel really sure of her? In the case of a plainer wife he would probably have few fears on this score at least. Has the raging beauty an un fair advantage over her less fa vored sister? Apparently not, because many plain women possess the most model hus bands and hold them. It is said that several of Hollywood’s most dazzling male “stars” are married to comparatively plain women, and that theirs are the happiest and most permanent marriages. Good looks may attract in the first instance, but they do not hold regard for long with out sounder and more stable ac companying attributes. Beauty, alas, has a time-limit; charac ter lasts. And if loveliness is a woman’s sole asset and she 20 Panorama has no other weapons in her armory she is going to be pret ty defenseless should she lose it. There is nothing more tragic than waning beauty, and with it waning affections. But its passing is going to be of small moment if in the first place it was other attributes than this which attracted. As the plain woman never relied upon ap pearances she has nothing to fear from or lose by the toll of the years. Physical beauty is a glorious thing and I unabashedly wor ship at its shrine, yet, if I had to choose, I think I would pre fer to live with a beautiful na ture. And beauty can be just plain, blank, or it can be spirit ual and intellectual. Marriage based solely on physical attraction seldom sur vives the first year or two, ex cept as an uninspiring “arrange ment/* So that, all things considered, plain wives can probably com pare more than favorably with breath-taking belles. —Martin K. Hind, condensed from Outspun, South Africa. February, 1939 21

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