I guess if you watched movies or know a little about history, you would know that it ain't a pretty life to be pretty.
Reasons to support the above statement:
1.There was a hierarchy back then and also, men can have as much wives as they want. So if you're pretty, you could be kidnapped or forced to be the wife of a warrior/someone with high ranks that you don't like at all. At least if it was an arranged marriage, you can prepare yourself mentally for it?
Actually, I heard in Indonesia, this is still happening: warriors/strong men would force the girls to be their wives. If they do not oblige, then they threaten to kill them and/or their whole family/friends.
In India, the guys pour acid on the girls that reject them even till this day.
2. Wartime is the most dangerous for pretty girls. The soldiers rape and murder girls. If you're pretty, most probably you'll get extra unwanted attention.
Luckily at this modern time, most of us are not in those situations. Therefore the want to be beautiful grew and the industry grew with it. Nowadays, it is good to be beautiful, if you're not beautiful, you'll be bullied, have bad job options, etc. We start to accept ourselves less as we are.
I like the Hunger Games idea on beauty. The contradiction: why would people want to get rid of wrinkles when wrinkles is a gift to show others that you managed to live that long and also why would people want to be skinny when being fat shows that you are living a prosperous life. (This is roughly what I remembered)
Our modern society now is if you're rich, then you can get rid of the wrinkles and keep yourself looking young. If you're rich then you would have time to exercise to be skinny/fit instead of fat. If you notice, most poor people now (in America) are more fat instead of skinny because unhealthy fast-food is cheaper than healthy food.
Funny isn't it? We want people to be healthy and yet we make it only possible for the higher income class to have it. It's a funny funny way we live.
Okay. On to the point where beauty is very much needed or not needed in this modern age:
1. Job opportunities - This goes two ways though. Those who want to go up the ladder can use their looks to help them, using relationships to climb up. The opposite of that is that there are those who get sexually harassed in the workplace because of their pretty face.
Nowadays, jobs requiring good, attractive looks is on the rise, e.g. models, actresses, etc. If you're pretty, it's like a bonus point (I guess?) people tend to like you (unless of course you have a horrible personality). This is just an assumption and from what I experienced around me - from friends etc.
2. Marriage opportunities - Most girls would want to marry for money (unfortunately), so what other way to hook up a rich old geezer who's on the verge or not on the verge of dying but to attract them with their physical looks. In China, there are these matchmaking companies where rich men go to to look for wives. And most of the criteria are absurd! They only emphasize on their outlooks, saying they want a wife with big eyes, big boobs, small waist, tall, fair complexion etc. Fortunately, those girls are looking for the exact same thing! Rich, old, only want them for their looks etc. I guess they are what you call: match-made-in-heaven.
I'm not really on either side, more neutral (okay, maybe a little to the side that wants beauty), but it's funny seeing how people in the olden times don't want it for really practical reasons and we now want it for somewhat practical reasons too.
I used to think that I'm hideous, with pimples, large open pores, blackheads etc. but now I'm more comfortable with myself. (Thanks to photo apps and filters). I also used to think that only if you're pretty then someone will like you or the one you like will like you back. I don't know how true is that thought but the idea of it now sorts of make me flinch. I think that I must be a really funny person (last time) to have such ideas.
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