For eons men have fallen prey to the power of a beautiful woman. Many famous sportsmen and politicians have lost their careers due to an exposed love affair. The classic tale of Mark Antony and Cleopatra also comes to mind, there are millions of stories.

We know that beauty is powerful and can gather attention and influence, but can beauty actually be a curse?

I spent a lot of my earlier life longing to be beautiful and doing everything I could to force my body to look like what society deems attractive. Thinness was my goal, and I would obsess over every morsel of food I ate and punish myself if I overindulged. This relentless pursuit of “beauty” caused me a lot of stress, sadness and heartache.

I came across a film called Malèna about a beautiful Italian woman set in the 1940’s told through the eyes of a 12 year old protagonist who was perversely obsessed with her and stalked her. Everywhere she went, men stared at her and followed her around. The woman of the town hated her viciously, and though a series of events out of her control she ended up becoming a prostitute to survive. When the war was over, the women of the town dragged her body into the streets, ripped off her clothing, beat her and left her there crying. A woman destroyed and shamed.

There are many damaging stereotypes associated with beautiful women. I have observed it in my own life when a stunning woman walks into the room others immediately feel threatened and begin to attack.

“She feels she is so nice.”

“She is so vain.”

“She is a slut.”

“She is looking for a man.”

“She loves attention.”

“She is pretty, she must be stupid.”

As women we have enough obstacles to overcome. It is time to stop tearing each other down and perpetuating these ridiculous stereotypes.

It seems these women are only seen for their beauty, they are not allowed to have emotions, opinions or intelligence. They are not taken seriously in professional environments because it is assumed they are clearly trying to sleep their way up the corporate ladder. They are admired for their beauty, not for their hearts and souls.

People should not be punished for their genetics or the body they lived in, regardless of their perceived beauty or lack thereof. We should all be able to live freely and comfortably on this planet without being dragged down and degraded by others. It’s time to be kinder to each other.