WASHINGTON- The saying goes, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” But could beauty be in the eye of the woman who is beheld?
That’s the controversy behind Samantha Brick, whose April 2 column in The Daily Mail details her struggles with being beautiful.
Brick, 41, says she regularly has her bar tab paid for and has even been given bottles of champagne by airline pilots before flights.
“I’m tall, slim, blonde and, so I’m often told, a good-looking woman. I know how lucky I am,” Brick says. “Unfortunately women find nothing more annoying than someone else being the most attractive girl in a room.”
Brick went on to complain that friendships have ended over her good looks and she’s even had to quit a job when a female boss couldn’t contain her jealous, cutting remarks.
“So now I’m 41 and probably one of very few women entering her fifth decade welcoming the decline of my looks,” Brick concluded. “I can’t wait for the wrinkles and the grey hair that will help me blend into the background.”
And then the backlash started.
With more than 5,000 comments, the majority disagreeing with Brick’s assessment of her beauty, Brick quickly became a trending topic on Twitter, complete with a spoof account, @La_Brick, taglined, “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.”
“Was this article a part of April Fools’?” asked one commenter named Isabel.
“Looks average to me, bit of a dreamer perhaps,” said another.
These were some of the more mild opinions. The Daily Mail is no longer accepting comments on the article.
In a follow-up article, which also has 5,000 comments, Brick summed up the backlash by saying, “my detractors have simply proved my point.”
As the writer trended and others debated her authenticity, some insisted Brick missed the point in both columns.
The Huffington Post’s Emma Gray says, “The point is also that most women aren’t out to undermine other woman (sic), and we need to stop perpetuating the idea that they are. In fact, they’re perfectly capable of supporting and encouraging other females of the species — even those who get the occasional bottle of complimentary (sic) champagne.”
So is Samantha Brick for real? Before drawing conclusions on her as a person, or personality, it may be worth checking out her Daily Mail column from August 2011.
In this column, Brick shares contrasting sentiments about looking good and being treated differently because of it.
“The truth is, I’d much rather work for a man than a woman,” Brick writes. “I’ve always dressed with the express intention to please and gratify my males bosses in the workplace.”
Brick also encourages women to use their looks to push them forward in life, love and work. She says she uses anti-aging remedies and flirts.
“Define what your best assets are: long legs, lustrous hair or even if you have a particular talent, exploit it. It’s time to be realistic because that is the way the world works for successful women,” Brick says in closing – the opposite of the sentiment that brought her to viral status.
WTOP’s Lacey Mason contributed to this report. Follow WTOP on Twitter.
(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)
