I’m always admiring my honey’s beauty. He’s Japanese (an ethnic group I NEVER found attractive until I met him. Now suddenly I find myself checking out Asian guys all the time.), very thin but beautifully formed, with broad shoulders. He has the most gorgeous bone structure and the prettiest mouth I’ve ever seen on a man. His built somewhat delicately, so I think of him as beautiful. He’s always correcting me and saying he’s handsome, to which I reply: “No, you’re not. You’re beautiful.”
I think words to describe various amounts pf pulchritude are very specific in meaning, and should be embraced as such.
For instance, my mother was not pretty or beautiful. She was certainly handsome, though. A good example of a famoous handsome woman… Tallulah Bankhead. Colleen Dewhurst. There’s an element of handosmeness that is creeping into Jessica Lange’s beauty as she ages. Hmmm…Can’t think of any modern actresses. Wait…Susan Sarandon. Grace Jones. Barbra Streisand.
Beautiful women: Michelle Pfeiffer, Liz Taylor (in her day, though she still looks pretty fabulous.) Katherine Hepburn (ditto). Audrey Hepburn. Angelina Jolie. Jessica Lange.
Pretty women: Julia Roberts (uber-pretty) Winona Ryder. Cindy Crawford. Tyra Banks. Whitney Huston. Halle Berry. Sarah McLachlan.
Cute women: Meg Ryan. Goldie Hawn. Shirley Manson. The chick from No Doubt. Drew Barrymore. Jewel. Parker Posey.
Attractive women (appealing in an otherwise indescribable way) Tori Amos. Lili Taylor. Most high fashion models (who are rarely stunning beauties. They just have That Look.) Cate Blanchett. Gwyneth Paltrow. Sigourney Weaver.
Handsome men: Tom Selleck - not my type, but uber-handsome. Paul Newman. Clark Gable. Rock Hudson.
Beautiful men: Brad Pitt. Daniel Day Lewis.
Pretty men: Ethan Hawke. Johnny Depp. Leo DiCaprio. Robert Redford.
Attractive men: Harrison Ford. Jeff Bridges. Liam Neeson. (this is the kinda guy that really slays me, personally. The not-classical but still devastating.)
And what do y’all think? Do I have it right? I really believ it isn’t accurate to simply call any attractive man handsome and any attractive woman beautiful. It doesn’t really work.
He who laughs last thinks slowest.