So, this posting is just a bit of musing and a bit long, but I'm very interested in the reaction of other people who might understand how I'm feeling.
I just started law school two weeks ago (Finally! Yay!). I have never been afraid of the academic part of it, and have actually begun to increase in confidence in that area as it appears I'm understanding the material better than most of my classmates.
But it is really intimidating how beautiful most of the women in the school seem to be. And I'm not just talking students (though it's very true for them), I'm talking faculty as well. If you look at the men, there's far more variety - short, fat, bald, etc. But of my three female professors, I believe the average weight is about 120, and they are women in their forties and fifties. Our speakers at orientation followed the same pattern. We heard from many very successful attorneys and judges. If they were men, their looks were varied. If they were women, they were tiny and very attractive.
Dont' get me wrong, though. These women are extremely intelligent and appear to have earned their success. So, I've been mulling the question. In order for them to have the opportunites they've had, was beauty a requirement? Or did they understand that beauty is such a priority that they invested substantial effort into meeting that standard? Or is it just a coincidence and this tiny pool of people is not representative of successful people in general?