Tish and I had a discussion last week about physical appearance and cultural attitudes. I then briefly posted about it and quoted from an article I’d read in the NY Times. Tish was able to access the article by Harriet McBryde Johnson elsewhere.

Tish then contemplated the article and a movie she watched. Here’s an excerpt:

It is easier to care for the beautiful, strong, able, bright and shiny. It does require a kind of effort to know how to look and really see people. True caring asks us for some effort. I think, for the people who make the effort, it doesn’t feel like effort. It feels obvious. Maybe for some people it is effortless. Maybe there is some innate character involved. But as long as we are living in a system that floods us with images and ideas about what beauty is I think we need to make some effort to check ourselves.