Elizabeth M. Johnson

I have had an issue with the TV show, Ugly Betty, since it debuted this fall on ABC’s Thursday line-up. Yes, the show seemingly has a wonderful message: real beauty is only skin deep. But the fact that the show needs to use such a nasty pejorative as “ugly” to describe the lead female character nullifies any good that the writers can offer audiences through their portrayal of Betty as a “sweet, intelligent and hard-working”. And, now, according to USA Today, “ugly is the new beautiful” and the popularity of Ugly Betty is the reason. ABC has apparently decided to launch a public service campaign (can you say Dove knock-off?) called “Be Ugly 07″. Its message is intended to help young girls be true to themselves. Does this strike anyone else as completely counter-intuitive? The message to young girls is to be true to yourself by being ugly? Yikes.

Apparently I am not the only one who feels this way. Joyce Roche of Girls Inc., although behind the campaign, admits, “We hope that people go beyond the headline of ugly. I wish there could have been another way of saying it, but at least it will get the dialogue going.” I’d like to think that by supporting this campaign, experts like Roche are encouraging girls to step into their power by using the word ‘ugly’ as a way to turn its negative image into something powerful and personal that they can own. Similar to what Eve Ensler had originally intended with The Vagina Monologues, perhaps. There’s a difference, however. While the word ‘vagina’ might have been scary to say pre-Ensler, the word ‘ugly’ is not scary, it is degrading. Shouldn’t we be making more attempts to promote authentic beauty as an alternative to physical perfection instead of promoting ugly to young girls? While Dove’s campaign (which promotes healthy self-esteem building) might not be perfect and is certainly financially motivated, at least their message is a good one. I can’t say the same for ABC’s.