Every once in a while, we see a woman that's beyond pretty. She's, actually, gorgeous. When you see that woman, what do you think of her? If you are that woman, what do people think of you?
A few years ago, in an Allure magazine article, Michelle Pfeiffer said that she had a hard time booking serious roles as an actress in the 1970s because she was too pretty. Pfeiffer took a lot of heat for that statement. I remember women rolling their eyes at the thought of a woman being "too pretty" for anything.
When I would listen to the chatter, I always wondered if they scoffed at Pfeiffer because they didn't believe her, or scoffed at her because she admittedly called herself pretty. To me, I think being too pretty can sometimes be a burden.
Yes. Sometimes, pretty women have an advantage. But when other women hate you because you are too pretty, things can get nasty. Especially in the work place. I work in the beauty industry, and I see it all the time. At one job, a new, simply gorgeous, six-foot-tall, big boobed girl was hired. When I saw her, I thought she was a model. I knew right away things weren't going to go well for her. Not only was she drop-dead gorgeous, but, admittedly, she couldn't pour piss out of a boot with instructions on the heel (to be fair, neither could most of my co-workers).
Well, the six months that she worked at the job, the other women treated her like garbage. Every chance they got, they ragged on this poor girl. They talked about her walk (slightly awkward, duckish with a hint of mannish). They talked about her height (like being six-feet tall is ever a bad thing), and they talked about her, erm, lack of brain cells. What they never admitted was that she was incredibly...nice and sweet. Do you know how many times pretty woman are b*^$#es?
As a person passively watching this catty behavior, I saw women who were intimidated by another woman's beauty. It made me sick. So, one day, while sitting in the break room, pondering why my life sucked (I hated retail), the pretty girl walked in. We chatted a bit, and I asked her if she liked the job? Personally, I could only be friends with people who were like me and wanted to blow the place up, but that's neither here nor there. She told me that it was okay, but she didn't like our coworkers. She told me that every time she got a job with women, they treated her like shit. I could totally see that. Actually, I did see it everyday. Our coworkers went out of their way to treat her bad. Now don't get me wrong, I've been the mean girl, once (or five times), but I have never been mean to someone who didn't deserve it. And I have never been mean to someone because they are pretty. I simply can't be mean to someone who is...ugh...nice.
I let her vent. She ate her sandwich. I secretly thought of more ways to blow up the building. She picked up a pair of men's electric shavers and asked was it a cell phone. I gave her the side-eye. She continued to vent. Then, I gave her some words of wisdom. "Tell'em to go eff themselves." She laughed. I didn't because I meant it. I knew that they disliked her because men came in the store and stared at her boobies beauty. I knew they hated her because people constantly asked her if she was a model. I knew they hated her because they weren't her.
She thanked me. When she left the break room, I looked at the men's electrical shaver and wondered how in the hell she thought it was a cell phone. Then I thought, how could anyone dislike her. Unlike Michelle Pfeiffer, she had no idea how beautiful she was.
True confessions here. Have you ever disliked a woman because she was too pretty? Have other women hated you because they thought you were too pretty? Have you ever witnessed cattiness like this before?
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