If a Girl Isn't Pretty

For centuries, society has held a certain perception of what is considered  beautiful. While those perceptions may change depending on the time period and culture in question, when people discuss “beauty” they are speaking in terms of physical appearance and sexual appeal. The dominant ideology regarding attractiveness has been strongly dictated by the fashion, film, and cosmetics industries for most of the last century. It can also be argued that a few powerful men operate those industries, which are responsible for defining modern society’s perception of beauty. However unknowingly, popular culture has attributed a woman’s success in all aspects of life including her career and relationships to her physical appearance. An example of this comes from the 1968 musical film Funny Girl, in which Barbara Streisand’s character, Fanny Brice, is told that she won’t be successful because she is unattractive. The first song in the movie is even titled “If a Girl Isn’t Pretty”. This essay will begin with an analysis of the key components relevant to this topic taken from the film Funny Girl, followed by real-life examples of how physical appearance affects women and their ability to be “successful” in life.

Funny Girl is a film adapted from a book and stage musical by the same name, both written by Isobel Lennart. The story is based on the life of Fanny Brice, an American comedienne, singer, and theater actress who grew up in the Jewish slums of New York City in the early 1900’s. Fanny is a young Jewish girl with a big nose and big hair. Fanny is extremely talented and dreams of being a star on Broadway. But her mother’s friends, in song, tell her “If a girl isn’t pretty like a Miss Atlantic City, all she gets in life is pity and a pat.” clearly referring to her unconventional looks. They continue by telling her “She must shine in every detail like a ring you’re buying retail, be a standard size that fits a standard dress.” The old women are reinforcing the patriarchal ideology that a woman is a sexual object, meant to be beautiful and desired by men. The ladies would like Fanny to believe that because she lacks desirability, she has no opportunities for success on Broadway.

Despite her average looks, Fanny manages to land a role as a replacement on the “8 Beautiful Girls” stage show. However, during her first rehearsal, she is immediately fired for having skinny legs. When Fanny protests, the producer tells her “you’ve got to face facts, you don’t look like the other girls!” This is an example of how men contribute to the oppression of women in respect to physical appearance. It was not the other “beautiful girls” who pointed out Fanny’s short-comings, it was the man in charge who decided that she wasn’t going to appeal to a male audience, which would mean lost profits for his theater. In this particular instance, a monetary value has been placed on the women’s attractiveness. The higher value belonging to the taller, large breasted women with blonde hair and blue eyes, who actually lacked the amazing talents that Fanny possessed.

Even though Fanny is fired from the show, she finagles her way into the “8 Beautiful Girls” performance on opening night. Her clumsiness causes her to mess up the dance routine, however the audience believes that this is done on purpose to make the show funny. The producer, who initially fired Fanny during rehearsals, realizes the potential to increase his profits by introducing a comedic element to the show. At the same time Fanny is visited backstage by Nicky Arnstein, a patron of the theater, who tells Fanny that he enjoyed her performance. When the producer comes to offer Fanny a fixed role on his stage show, at a rate of $30 a week, Nicky advises her not to take the offer, for it is not enough money. Nicky cons the producer into paying Fanny more money by telling him that he represents another producer who is interested in hiring Fanny for his show. The men engage in a bidding war which ends in the producer of “8 Beautiful Girls” offering Fanny $50 per week to stay with him. At which point Nicky indicates that he is not authorized to go any higher than $50. The producer walks away, upset that he now has to pay Fanny $50 per week, but pleased because his revenue will increase just by allowing her to perform on stage. Nicky was lying about being a representative for anyone, and only said what he did in an effort to increase Fanny’s paycheck. This could be interpreted as meaning that the men in Fanny’s life at that moment were directly responsible for her success. Without the producer’s approval, Fanny would not have had the opportunity to share her talents on stage. Without Nicky, she would not have been able to secure herself a decent wage for her work. This is an example of how men hold the dominant roles in society, as they are directly responsible for the level of success achieved by the women.

Eventually, Fanny becomes a performer with the Zigfield Follies, one of the most prestigious shows on Broadway. All of Zigfields girls are tall, beautiful, and curvaceous. Fanny is overjoyed with her accomplishment; however, on the first day of rehearsals she causes uproar because she has been asked to perform a song that she refuses to sing. The song is titled “His Love makes me Beautiful”. Fanny believes that she is going to be ridiculed for singing a song about beauty, because she doesn’t consider herself to be beautiful. Zigfield threatens to fire her, and she is finally convinced to sing the song. In this situation, another man has taken control of Fanny and her success.  Without Zigfield, Fanny is nobody, and so she is coerced into going against her will. An important verse in this song goes as follows: “You are the beautiful reflection of his love’s affection… His love makes you beautiful, so beautiful. And woman loved is glorified.” The song would suggest that the love of a man is what makes a woman beautiful, and without that love essentially she is nothing special. It is not the mind, personality, sense of humor, or humility of a woman that makes her beautiful, but the man’s love. Furthermore, without beauty, they are no one.

Over time, Fanny becomes one of the biggest stars on Broadway. During her time with the follies, her looks begin to change drastically. She wears elegant clothes, has perfect hair and flawless skin. Nicky Arnstein eventually proposes to her, but only after he makes enough money to take care of her. After getting married, Fanny and Nicky move to a big house in the country. Fanny becomes pregnant and stops performing on stage and takes on the role of the loving and devoted housewife. This is very much a preferred reading to the masculine hegemony. Nicky’s role as a husband is to make money and support his wife, and Fanny’s responsibility is to stay home and bear his children. Furthermore, this scenario suggests that in order to land a husband, a woman must be beautiful and devoted. Fanny is able to gain success in her career because she becomes “beautiful”. She attains success in her personal life because she is “beautiful”. This is an example of how the hegemony has been reinforced by both the man and woman, as they both feel that they are fulfilling their respective duties as partners in a marriage.

Finally, after many years of marriage and due to popular demand, Fanny returns to the stage. Her husband lives in the shadows of her incredible success, which infuriates him. Desperate to prove himself, he gets involved in an illegal bond scheme and ends up in prison. Fanny, the devoted wife, vows to wait for him. Unfortunately, when Nicky is finally released from prison, he leaves Fanny and eventually they divorce.  If looked at from a radical feminist perspective, we can see that Fanny is penalized for stepping outside of her “ideal” role as wife and mother. Because she gains success and manages to make more money than her husband, she is severely punished by losing him.

While many aspects of the film have been glorified in relation to the real life of Fanny Brice, the same issue remains true. Physical appearance has everything to do with a woman’s success. For example, while searching for an actress to play the role of Fanny, one of the producers objected to allowing Barbara Streisand to have the lead role because “She looked awful… All her clothes were out of thrift shops.” However, it was the lead producer, Ray Stark, who insisted that Barbara be hired, otherwise he would not allow the film to be made. This is an interesting “life imitating art” moment. Much of Barbara’s success can be attributed to her role Funny Girl. The film propelled Barbara to the highest levels of stardom, a level of fame that she holds to this day. Funny enough, it was all because of one single man who demanded that she be cast as Fanny Brice.

The idea that one must be physically attractive to succeed is not exclusive to the time of Fanny Brice or Barbara Streisand. In our modern and “evolved” society, the value placed on appearance is greater than ever. While it is commonplace to believe that to be in successful in show business, a woman needs more sex appeal than talent, one may take for granted the value placed on appearance for any other position.

In 2005, USA Today published an article titled “Your Appearance, Good or Bad, Can Affect the Size of Your Paycheck”. The article goes on to describe several instances where women were fired from or denied positions, solely based on their physical appearance. The article details the true experiences several people and how physical appearance affected their careers. Take for example the case of one woman, who after 20 years working for the same casino, was fired for not wearing makeup. Darlene Jespersen was a bartender for Harrah’s Entertainment in Nevada. Harrah’s required their female employees to wear makeup, which they define as powder or foundation, blush, lipstick, and mascara. After being fired, Jespersen sued her former employer, and the local court ruled in favor of Harrah’s. The case eventually made it into 9^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and Harrah’s has since revised their company policies, and no longer mandates the use of makeup. This is a blatant example of how Jespersen’s employers took physical appearance, rather than experience or performance, into account when firing her. They believed that an employee’s unacceptable appearance would affect their profitability, and took decisive action to let her go. While it is reasonable to assume that no employer wants a slob working for him or her, it seems unfair to fire someone for not wearing make up. The choice to wear makeup is a personal one, and not one that everyone is required to succumb to. In this situation however, the rules were outlined in the company’s policies, and Jesperson paid a big price for not adhering to those rules, which happened to be written by William Harrah, a man.

While some people may accept that in order to work in a casino you must wear makeup and exude sex-appeal, thus reinforcing the same patriarchal beliefs that women are objects, one might not think the same is true for a regular office job. However, too often an employer will require a potential employee to submit a photo along with their resume in order to be considered for the position. Why is this necessary? How can a photo be any more informative than the experience and qualifications outlined on a person’s resume? Again this is done because of the value placed on appearance. There have been several instances in which a male employer will hire the less experienced, yet more attractive female to fill a position that could have potentially been filled by someone better qualified, yet less attractive. Whether this is done subconsciously or on purpose, it still happens. Many years ago, there was a dateline expose on the same situation previously described. Two women interviewed for the same job while wearing hidden cameras. One woman was highly qualified, yet slightly overweight and not attractive. The second woman was semi-qualified, yet attractive. During the interview process, the employer asked the overweight woman about her experience, qualifications, and so on. He interviewed her very thoroughly. When the second, more attractive woman was interviewed, well… she wasn’t. The employer did not bother to ask the woman any of the same questions he asked the other candidate. Instead, his posture changed, he became more relaxed, and never once did he ask her about her experience, skills, or qualifications. In fact, the man even began to flirt with the woman. Now this can be interpreted in two ways: either he thought the attractive woman was not even qualified for the position so he tried to get a date out of it instead or he just didn’t care whether she was qualified or not, because she was pretty. Can you guess who was offered the position?

Whether we choose to agree or disagree, the same holds true for everyone. People place a high value on physical appearance. A person would never walk into a job interview wearing ripped jeans and tennis shoes, unless they really didn’t want the job. Additionally, a person cannot expect to find a mate if their appearance is not up to par. For a woman to gain the affections of a man, she must be beautiful and poised, and she must exude sexual appeal. Or so the dominant ideology would have us believe.

The “ideals” we hold about what is considered attractive, is dictated by the media and cosmetics industries, who’s standard of beauty evolves with time.  In the 1950’s Marilyn Monroe was a sexual object to be desired, with her short blonde hair, large breasts, and curvaceous Size 8 body. Fast forward to the present time, a Size 8 woman would never make it into the pages of a magazine, much less Playboy. Today’s sex kittens are 6 feet tall with long flowing hair and Size 2 bodies. This is a reflection of how the images portrayed in the media shape our perceptions of what is acceptable and what is beautiful, and how those perceptions can affect a woman’s ability to succeed life.