tagged U

Every Tuesday, step by step, I’m walking with my readers from A to Z, last week we had “T” (visit tagged T), so this week we have “U” – I’m sure you’ll find a story or a short reflection tagged with “U”! Feel free to add in the comments below the link to your personal interpretation of the letter “U”!!! Myself I’ll feature “U” for discussing the term UGLY:

Ugly

Question: what is ugly? Is it forbidden by “political correctness” to talk about what could be ugly? Houses, cities, faces, clothes, certain behavior or opinions, a four letter word, a hate speech?

team of female designers, discussing a shop window design in Berlin; photo by frizztext, click on the picture to enter his galleries on flickr
comments by some of my readers at https://flickrcomments.wordpress.com/2012/11/21/what-is-ugly/:
1 – Rita Banerji, Calcutta: I think that aesthetics is a subjective issue and there isn’t any reason why it can’t be discussed. However, because of the role it has played in the cosmetic industry, and fashion etc. and has become a tool of control of women’s images of themselves, women’s and girl’s low self-esteem, that the concept of ‘ugly’ and ‘pretty’ does need to be challenged. I personally have never found anything visually ugly, unless it touches on a certain feeling I have for that person or thing. Like for e.g. my sister and her friends used to find Tom Cruise very good-looking! He never visually appealed to me — because i just always thought he was something of a misogynistic ass-hole!
2 – frizztext: we don’t like Tom Cruise in Germany because his strange engagement for the scientology sect; nice and courageous: that his wife managed to escape that brain washing community!
3 – Rob: I agree with Rita about aesthetics but there’s a whole different set of meanings for ugly relating to sexuality. Sexual attraction relates to suitability and health for breeding, so ugly could mean unhealthy or unsuitable for breeding.
4 – Madhu: Totally with Rita on the subject: Beauty has become big business!
related: America’s Next Top Model:
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/05/the-tyra-banks-matriarchy-a-scholars-take-on-i-americas-next-top-model-i/276027/
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http://francescannotwrite.wordpress.com/2012/06/18/ugliness-as-a-requirement-for-beauty/
P.S.:
Near to the term UGLY maybe is “AFRAID OF”; for example I’m afraid of spiders, mobbing, loud noise on a party … – or to focus on positive emotions: I feel comfortable with my cat, my guitar, my computer – could you explain your definition of ugly or “afraid of”?
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actually very ugly for me:
neo-nazi-trial-in-germany