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Hey Big Spender: You're So Good Lookin'

By Sarah Stodola

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There is no longer a question of the fact that the gap between the rich and poor in this country is widening at a great pace. Those statistics about how much income the top one percent of Americans possess versus the bottom quarter of the entire population are truly astounding. The richest have obscene amount of cash to play with, while the poor masses toil in thankless jobs just for basic survival, and maybe cable television.

It has also been proven that up to a certain point, money does make one happier. This point is only an annual income of $50,000 or so, however. When you get really rich you are, by measure of happiness, no better off than the comfortably middle class sector of the country.

Even so, it would betray a certain naiveté to deny that you can live your life in a certain way if you have access to large sums of money that just is not possible otherwise. You can travel the world, buy a boat, throw parties, hire someone to look after your children, finance your own projects, buy gadgets and toys and gizmos, take ski trips, buy a beach house, feel the envy of others, and so on.

But the thing that doesn’t get talked about much is the fact that money can also buy you beauty. Just as the gap between the rich and poor is widening, so will the gap between the beautiful and the plain. It is even possible that something akin to racism could evolve one day, as those who are financially challenged will be branded as such by their unattractiveness.

Think about it: The following is a list that I - certainly no expert of the fashion and beauty industries - have compiled of services, processes, and products that for a price can significantly alter a person’s attractability quotient…

A good hair cut, good hair coloring, teeth whitener, good hair products, hair removal, makeup, moisturizer, a good wardrobe, gym membership, personal trainer, braces, hair extensions, Botox, a makeup artist, face lift, nose job, liposuction, boob job, lip implants, cheek implants.

A portion of the items on this list are out of reach to most, but some of them can be bought easily by the average American. However, although most women can and do buy moisturizer, only a handful can afford even one bottle of the stuff that Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston reportedly bathe themselves in. And say what you will about them, the one thing you can’t say is that they don’t look exponentially better than most folks their age. But does anyone really believe that Aniston’s hair would be so well-known if it weren’t for a greatly expensive stylist who at some point literally molded it into the ‘do that is now the envy of so many? And does anyone really think that as a 40-year-old, Pitt hasn’t had some help with that body?

So while anyone can buy beauty products, the very best of these products - the ones that actually make a person more beautiful - are out of most individual's reach.

There are women out there who have become so obsessed with plastic surgery, they have literally deconstructed and then reconstructed their faces (and there is also Michael Jackson). Others have taken extreme surgical measures to lose weight. Some have done both.  Men, for there part, are becoming more interested in the industry all the time - see Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

And the fact is that there won’t have to be too far a drop in the cost of such high-end beauty enhancers before it becomes possible for anyone with a six-figure salary to become the next Cher. Natural beauties will, of course, still occasionally be born. So, perhaps giving birth to a beautiful child in America will become the poor family’s ticket to a better life. If you can look the part of the affluent, it is easier to become affluent, after all.

This is already true to a certain extent today.  Beautiful women find it easier to marry into wealth, and been statistically proven that as a whole, tall, physically pleasing people get better jobs.

But if you are born rich and not beautiful, you can still have it all.  Take ten millionaires and set them next to ten members of the lower middle class and it’s a no-brainer to bet that the millionaires are easier on the eyes. This is in no way meant to criticize the poor, and it is in no way a testament to some inherent superiority of the rich. Quite the contrary, it is meant to serve as one more reminder of the twisted nature of class polarization.

Money can’t always buy happiness, but it can by good looks. And it seems like this is making some rich folks pretty giddy.

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Sarah Stodola is the Managing Editor of Me Three.  She can be contacted at [email protected].

© 2004 Me Three