Friday, May 22, 2009

Beauty Is As Beauty Does

The Lebanese pop star Suzanne Tamin was incredibly blessed with the kind of physical presence that is rare anywhere in the world. She was a true head-turner, a symbol of female perfection. And that she also had talent as an entertainer meant that she was rather extraordinary in a sense. It's hard not to judge a book by its cover, and in her case, her beauty was spell-binding. One wouldn't think that someone blessed with those looks might find life difficult.

On the other hand, women who are especially beautiful are held to standards that not all would be comfortable with. Others are held in awe of their perfect beauty. It's something like the extremely wealthy who can never be quite certain that they are respected, held in esteem, even loved for themselves, for their qualities as a human being, rather than for the estate they've inherited.

In the instance of a woman of such great beauty, her inner essence as a woman might be unappreciated and unrecognized, causing her some level of personal uncertainty and anguish over what her value to others might constitute. Regardless, women of superior beauty and women of no particularly outstanding physical characteristics are not immune to making unfortunate choices in their lives.

They will settle for far less than they deserve as human beings, succumbing to the first, and often inappropriate choices set before them. In the unfortunate case of Suzanne Tamin, she may very well have used her beauty and acclaim as a counter-balance to the wealth and prestige of the wealthy and well-connected Hisham Talaat Moustafa, who has just received the death sentence in Egypt.

It is entirely possible that they sought one another out; he to possess her physical beauty, and she to take advantage of his position in society, and his wealth. Ms. Tamim's life trajectory appears not to have been a satisfyingly happy one, with several failed marriages behind her. Her liaison with Mr. Moustafa, a married man unlikely to leave his marriage for her another ill choice.

The brevity of her relationship with the men she was intimate with before initiating intimacy certainly meant she knew little of them before committing to a relationship. It may very well be that she was disappointed time after time, discovering them to be less than what she had anticipated. She might, on the other hand, have herself been lacking as a companion.

Her last choice in marriage after leaving the company of the man who commissioned her death certainly did nothing to save her from an early demise. Her beauty availed her nothing but failure and unhappiness. Beauty, intrigues, anger and betrayal. Another of life's sad little dramas. The superficiality of beauty, despite our admiration of it, is as nothing in comparison to other human characteristics; kindness, empathy, humour, intelligence.

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