IN DEFENCE OF BEAUTY

There’s Gigi and there’s Cara. There’s Lara, Georgia and Jourdan. What these women have in common — besides the fact that they’re all gorgeous, about 180cm tall, with a 34-24-34 body ratio and long hair — is that they’ve all, in recent years, been named Model of the Year at the annual British Fashion Awards. But, in the post-Harvey Weinstein era of political correctness and sensitivity, are we still allowed to admire beauty in its most stereotypical sense of model measurements and glossy locks? In an attempt to adhere to the global body positivity trend — embracing all body types of all sizes, without “shaming” anyone — are we throwing the babe out with the bath water?

Who could say that this year’s winner, Adwoa Aboah, was not utterly deserving of the title? Added to the fact that she has cheekbones to die for, undeniable sex appeal, the prerequisite height, weight and dimensions for a model, and a look that can be tailored to any number of publications, she is also bi-racial (with a Ghanaian father and British mother), has feminist credentials (despite relying on her looks for her livelihood) and she’s complex (at the age of 25, she’s already battled depression and addiction).

Her modelling and acting careers, she claims, come second to her primary engagement — an online platform encouraging women to talk about mental health, diversity and addiction, called Gurls Talk.

But when the judges were considering the perfect candidate for the prize, I seriously doubt whether they would have taken any of this into account if Aboah hadn’t been, first and foremost, totally gorgeous. And that’s the right approach to awards of this kind, because denying the power of beauty is completely incompatible with human nature, no matter what the virtuous among us say.