Oops. Wrong TV show.

Seriously, I was thinking about you the entire time I wrote that post, and I knew I'd get a response of some sort from you As you said, though, we don't really disagree, we're just coming at this from very different angles. "Pretty" and "Ugly" are subjective, unless we're talking about scientific studies of attraction, in which case it's still about averages. I'd never call her pretty, and her appearance is not going to rate high on any sort of sexually attractive scale, but I don't think of beauty in terms of sexual attractiveness – as an artist, the attraction of beauty goes well beyond pinging the buttons that say "potential mate". And when I think about all the people I've known in my life, she falls in the low end of average. That's pretty subjective, and also depends on the people you know in your life. Maybe I just hang out with a lot of ugly people?

But whether we call her average, homely or ugly, there is a clear cognitive dissonance between her appearance, and her voice. And resolving that dissonance is what I think is moving people so deeply, about her, and that's what I was trying to get at. Not that there's anything wrong with beauty!

Btw… regarding the "obsession" with perfection? Remember I am a Texas girl, where pageants are practically a right of passage, we dont go to the mailbox without lipstick on, and we could single handedly support the silicone industry for years. Our obsession here isn't media created, it's part of our culture!

I'm sure I missed a lot of things I want to say, but I have to run.. I do SO wish I had time to rant wildly and boost your traffic!