The Beauty (power) Of Women
 
 
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Beautiful. Pretty. Lovely. Gorgeous. Stunning. Hot. Sexy. These are all words we use to describe the physical attributes of women. But do they all capture accurately that which is a woman’s allure, a woman’s magnetism, a woman’s draw; her ability to pull a man’s desire from him, to twist and wrench it into an uncontrollable need, to force his eyes to brighten, his heart to flutter, his…ahem…physiology, to respond. 
I think not.
My term for such phenomena is Power. The “Power” of a woman. Not beauty, not sexiness, not loveliness, but Power. It’s a better term, I think. One that I will be happy to lend you. Feel free to use it whenever you wish, I won’t charge you a thing. I know, I know, but that’s the kinda’ guy I am. People ask me, Why don’t you charge for this stuff? I should, but I’m not gonna.’ That’s just me.
Anyway, about the ‘Power.’ See, if a woman is beautiful that’s great. But that’s not enough. Many women are beautiful. A Mercedes is beautiful, a well-groomed racehorse is beautiful. I’m beautiful…okay, I’m not beautiful, but I am sort of pretty if you view me in just the right light…well, attractive…sort of…in shadow…a very dark shadow…never mind. So, as I was saying, beautiful, pretty, lovely, or any other term denoting the looks of a woman is, to my mind, inadequate. Thus my term, “Power.” 
Take for instance one of my ex-fiancés, Nicole Kidman (I have many ex-fiancés: Jennifer Connelly, Scarlett Johanssen, Lauryn Hill, Tinkerbelle, all of them ex’s because of my admitted superficial and self-centered jerkness…except for Tinkerbelle–she left me). Nicole Kidman, is she beautiful? Sure. Lovely? Stunning? Sexy? Sure, sure, sure. But how much power does she have? That’s the question. Let me tell ya’ she has a lot of power. But not only because of all the adjectives mentioned above, but because of all that makes Nicole Kidman Nicole Kidman. She’s one of the best actresses out there, which I think is one reason for her possessing a high volume of power. The only thing that dampens her power, and it’s why I had to break up with her, is her body. As some of you may know, I like fat women. Not, as I’ve said in a previous column, obese, but full, filled out, fleshy; after all, I’m a blues man. I need wide hips and thick thighs. And Nicole just doesn’t have them. I know, I can hear it now, What a shallow, insensitive bastard you are. Well, I can’t help it. I knew we could never be happy together. I did the right thing, believe me. It was for her own good. But back to the issue. Nicole Kidman has power, no doubt about it. Big time. 
Now let’s look at someone who doesn’t have as much power as my former fiancé: Michelle Pfeifer (not one of my ex-fiancés, but we did date for a while). She’s of course beautiful as well. Probably more so than my ex (sorry Nikki…I call her Nikki–she hates that). But she doesn’t have Kidman’s power. That is, she doesn’t have that allure, that draw, that…gene se qua that my ex has. She did have it in Bat Man as Cat Woman, especially when she ‘Meowed’ and she had it in that supernatural thriller, What Lies Beneath, with Harrison Ford. It was the scene where she’s sitting on the steps of the den or piano room or where the hell ever, wearing that red dress in a certain, (gulp) position…wow! 
But one scene does not an overly powerful woman make. Now please understand, all women have power by virtue of the fact that they’re women. And please don’t misunderstand. I’m not talking about sex appeal. That’s a separate issue. Meg Ryan has power, but she’s not particularly sexy. Not particularly sexy. She’s somewhat sexy, but not unusually so…except for that one scene in In The Cut where she’s walking toward the camera, but that’s a different issue as well. 
So it’s power, not beauty, that makes for a woman’s all around physical and dispositional attraction. It’s everything that she is: her face, her eyes, her hair, her walk, her voice, her hands, her teeth, her laughter, her tears, the way she does that cute little stumbling side-step when you slap her–just kidding. 
But seriously, all of it adds up to her overall power. Her personality has a lot to do with it, and is probably the biggest factor. But of course when we’re talking about celebrities, we don’t know their personalities, so we have to go on looks and screen image alone.
So there you have it. When it comes to women, beauty is relative, ‘Power’ is descriptive. So the next time you see a woman who makes all the guys’ mouth water and all the gals’ criticize her shoes and make-up, just remember: It’s not the beauty. It’s the power. 
And just incase you’re wondering, Marilyn Monroe is the most powerful woman who ever lived…and yes, she is an ex-fiancé.

Keck
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