A frequent claim by women of the politically correct persuasion is that beautiful women are stupid or bad people. This attitude has been responsible for vast abuses against attractive women; and it is an attitude that is rotten to the core.

Yes, Sarah Palin was a beauty pageant contestant; but so was Erin Brockovich. There is nothing stupid, shallow or malevolent about Erin Brockovich. Among major figures in feminism itself, Gloria Steinem and Naomi Wolf certainly qualify as attractive women. And in countries in which feminism is most advanced – such as Sweden – there are more than enough attractive women to go around. Which means that the attack that many in feminism mount on beauty does not even benefit feminism itself.

In fact, I do not see there being any reason for there to be a correlation, positive or negative, between beauty and intellect or beauty and character. We will see all sorts of combinations. In the worst forms of feminism, the women who are not only unattractive but also exceedingly mean-spirited make it their lives’ goal to destroy women who are both physically attractive and warm, loving people. And this is a vast injustice.

The feminist war on beauty must end. Not only does it result in extreme abuses against the better specimen of womanhood, but it does not even benefit women’s empowerment or women’s standing in society. Sweden has accomplished far more for women than has America, and in Sweden the women are not being pressured into being ugly or mean. The positive forms of feminism would support good qualities in women while empowering them against those who would mistreat them. And that would do far more for women’s well-being than anything that we have seen from the beauty-haters.

A person who’s actually interested in women’s empowerment and women’s well-being will value, support and encourage the good qualities that women have more naturally than do men. Qualities such as beauty, kindness, tenderness, and ability to produce and nurture life, should be affirmed as these are the qualities in which women are naturally better endowed than are men. Instead of doing away with the good in women and pushing them to be an inferior imitation of the worst men out there, a better feminism would affirm what is uniquely feminine and positive qualities that come to women more naturally than they do to men. And by encouraging and supporting these positive qualities the better feminism would give people – both men and women – a very present reason to have respect for women and to treat them better: By maximizing the good in women and showing to the world how good the women can actually be. » Read more: Feminism and Beauty