Calling a woman 'beautiful' is not a compliment, it is offensive

They say there are pros and cons of everything, but did you know there could be a downside to being beautiful?

As a woman, I have a certain aversion to the term “beautiful”. To be honest, I do not find the compliment completing my appearance in any way.

It's ironical how a woman is extolled for her beautiful face which, by the way, has nothing to do with her creativity. Hard to digest, but few things are actually god-gifted.

It reminds me of one of my mentors who always said: “Beautiful girls have greater responsibility in this era.”

According to her, if you are beautiful you will be crucified for it, because you have to prove to the world that you got something more than a beautiful face.

I have realised with time that what she explained was actually an unvarnished truth.

To my dismay, women, among other things, also struggle for that perfectly arched face, flawless skin and fair body.

For those who are not blessed with all that, it’s an incessant challenge to look beautiful; and for those who are fortunate enough to look beautiful, it’s more of a challenge as they have to prove that they aren’t bimbos.

However, we often proclaim the adage “beauty lies in the eye of the beholder”. The saying does not constrain beauty to a beautiful visage, it realises that beauty is much more than what is visibly alluring or attractive. But do we actually adhere to such sayings in reality?

Clearly we don’t, and I want to focus on the beautiful women who are the subject of discussion just by the way they look. Yes, looks can be deceptive but we are hardwired to judge a woman merely on the basis of her appearance.

We are so lured by appearance that we often forget to make a judgement about her mind or heart that might be beautiful too.

The phrase "beauty with brains” is a fallacy, and I say that because a beautiful woman is already proclaimed a bimbo or someone fit for a beauty pageant.

The fact is that in the society we live in, we are used to judging a book by its cover.

For instance, a movie like Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2, which showcased three glam dolls, implied that women are not even near to what we call sanity.

In Student of The Year, Alia Bhatt essayed the role of a fashionista and was deemed a bimbo by co-actor Sidharth Malhotra in the film.

The word bimbo has seemingly become a synonym for beautiful. An attractive woman is considered less intelligent but what’s dichotomous is that we live in a society that’s obsessed with beauty and which admires beautiful faces.

There are innumerous examples where a beautiful woman is objectified on the basis of her looks. Why can't people understand that a beautiful face does not take away a woman's intellect; they can co-exist and we can’t paint everyone with the same brush.

Are you beautiful?

Also read: The thin line between looking, seeing and staring at a woman