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Is Glamor as the Opposite of Beauty? Cecilia Gonzalez-Andrieu on Superficiality and Truth
“When I ask my students, ‘What is the opposite of beauty?’ they very quickly respond, ‘ugly.’ That’s what society tells us. But what if I say it’s glamour? We start seeing that glamour is the most dangerous thing because it disguises itself as beautiful, attracts us to it, ensnares us in false hopes and superficiality, and in that process takes us away from real beauty…”
“What’s more beautiful? Someone who has had 30 plastic surgeries or the lined and broken face of Mother Theresa? The students become so liberated with this discussion. They have known this in their hearts and suddenly they feel like they have been given the language of calling out the lies. When we start unmasking glamour, the scales come off their eyes and they start seeing… what the Gospel has to offer the world is the Good News, the beautiful news, but it’s not always pretty…”
The above quotes come from this article written about theologian, Cecilia Gonzalez-Andrieu. Callid at Homebrewed Christianity recently interviewed Cecilia about her book “Bridge to Wonder: Art as a Gospel of Beauty.” I really enjoyed what she had to say.
[…] “When I ask my students, ‘What is the opposite of beauty?’ they very quickly respond, ‘ugly.’ That’s what society tells us. But what if I say it’s glamour? We start seeing that glamour is the most dangerous thing because it disguises itself as beautiful, attracts us to it, ensnares us in false hopes and superficiality, and in that process takes us away from real beauty…” ~ Cecilia Gonzalez-Andrieu […]
I am delighted to see you take my thoughts on glamour being the opposite of beauty and run with it. We first discussed this during a meeting of theologians and philosophers at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, and I heard it best expressed by my colleague, philosopher Patrick Lippert. The more I thought it through, the more I realized that this was a powerful idea to explore in my desire to contribute to human flourishing, and especially to the liberation of those on the margins, the poor and women. I appreciate your elaboration of the idea in art!
Wow it means so much to me that you read the post, Cecilia! Thank you for writing in. I really do appreciate your work :)