Evening star., 1923-08-05
Girls and Their Affairs.
Conducted BY. Helen H. Fetter

DEAUTY and the American girl are
ID two subjects that are constantly
linked in the press. conversations
pictures, and through various other
mediums. The term american
beauty" has been adopted for descrlo-
ing the young girl of this country In
other countries of the world. Beauty
contests are always being held some-
where by somebody to show now
many pretty girls there are In the
United States. Washington has mad
and is still having it's share of such
contests The point is, how many
girls chosen in such contests are
merely pretty, rather than beautiful!
According to the dictionary, pretty
means pleasing by dencacy OF
or impressive" "a diminutive beauty.
x*
Beauty. on the other hand, is some
thing. "A quality, that is much greater
and more complicated than prettiness
Quite recently Florenz Iiegfeld and
David Belasco, who have aided nun
dreds of stage beauties to careers,
have been quoted as to their ideas
regarding what was fundamental In
the requirements for feminine beauty.
In both instances they admitted that
individuality of charm, combination
Of mental and spiritual qualities. was
more to be desired than beauty that
was merely of the physical quality.
Needless to state, the latter was also
to be required but only as it supple
mented the other qualities.
X
1t is the popular custom with the
hundreds of modern beauty contests
in different parts of the country to
base the decision of the judges upon
the charms of a girl as illustrated in
was probably originally the old adage,
The camera never lies" 1t may not
lie, but it certainly can tiatter or
distort the victims countenance, ac-
An artist photographer can make a
beauty out of a plain girl, provided
she is so posed and the lights and
shadows cleverly arranged so as to
fall to the best advantage in en-
phasizing her charms and concealing
her defects. In this way a girl of
obvious character may be given an
intriguingly mysterious individuality
IN photograph. But on the whole it
seems to be the girls with the doll
like curls and baby stare" that win
the majority of these contests.
= X =
It is interesting to see what some
OF the ancientS considered as the eS-
sentials for beauty. Said Socrates.
Beauty is essentially moral and use
ful. Plato believed that beauty is
characterized by measure and sym
metry, and as constituted by the
presence of the ideal beautiful"
Plotinus considered beauty as "su-
premacy of the higher over the
lower" and Cicero fatty contradict
ed Socrates in his statement. Beauty
as distinguished from the useful com
prlses distinct types of dignity,
charm and grace; beauty is pleasure
objectified."
In spite of apparent contradictions
In the opinions of these famous men
of the ages, they all seem to agree on
the fundamental principle of beauty.
a quality that is high and distinctive,
setting the object apart from the or
dinary things of life.
Venus the goddess of beauty in the
old mythology. has been the subject
of many works Of art and many lit
erary efforts. Among the most fam
Gus of the paintings and statues in
spired by this goddess are Venus
Rising From the Sea" The Rhodian
Venus Venus de Medici." Venus
of Aries" and Venus de Milo" The
last named is said to have had perfect
physical proportions, and the modern
girl has been frequently compared
with the statue, in proportion. The
statue is. of course, of heroic pro-
portions.
Many articles have been published
compa ratively recently, showing the
gradual change in the popular type
of physical beauty for girls and
women. In Lillian RuSsells' day,
when that famous actress led the list
of a corps of celebrated stage beau
ties the Venus de Milo" lines were
entirely out of style with the gem
eral idea as to what constituted
feminine beauty. Today, however. the
lines of that statue are approved by
physical directors in schools and
colleges for girls. although the
slender type of girl is the ideal of
the modern tiapper.
Yet, in spite of all changes through
the ages of the outer aspect of beau
tiful women. the basic requirement
for charm INCREASINGLY continues
to be the ideal called for in every
Judgment passed upon the beauty of
women. Contests, such as are now
popular, only emphasize the differ
ence between prettinesS and beauty.
1t is perhaps the very rarity of actual
beauty that so enhances the value of
such beauty when it is found There
lare plenty of pretty girls in the
KNITTED States, but beauties here, as
elsewhere, are not overplentiful.