I recently read Ocean Vuong’s latest novel, The Emperor of Gladness. The novel is a stunning commentary on the complexity of very normal people with very normal lives. It forgoes any romanticization of the mundane and left me staring at the wall. My copy is now drowning in highlighted lines, perhaps none more boldly than his question stating “What good is beauty, any beauty, if nobody wins?” (Vuong 231). In the context of the novel, it is referring to a young boy looking at a picture of his mother, beautiful yet plagued with suffering and unfortunate circumstances. Her beauty could not save her.
I took so much from the novel, yet that question has lingered at the forefront of my mind. What good is beauty, really? If beauty has seemingly no practical value, why are we in constant pursuit of it? And what if, despite its impracticality, I want to be beautiful anyways?
The history of female beauty standards is extensive, from the perfectly proportioned curves of ancient Greece to the idealized “waif-like figure” of the 90’s. The cultural pressure to adapt to these standards as they are in constant flux is overwhelming. Yet, we continue. Thin eyebrows to thick, exaggerated curves to straight and narrow, we morph ourselves in pursuit of beauty – whatever it may be. What complicates this pursuit is the vagueness and subjectivity of what we are searching for. The inability to define beauty makes it a challenging moving target, and even the exceptional women who come close are met with their own criticisms (insert Cleopatra as “too manly” and Marilyn Monroe as “too curvy”).
While being seemingly impossible to attain, beauty as a resource feels hollow. Its practical value when thinking of the tangible world – cost of living, the loss of a loved one, being stuck in a traffic jam – can be equated to virtually nothing. In Vuong’s novel, the misfit characters create a rather unbeautiful community to endure life’s challenges together; their own kind of “chosen family.” It is a powerful resource that supports each character through their hardships. It is real. Beauty on the other hand, is powerless in dire times. No matter how much we hope, it alone cannot save us.
In addition to its powerlessness, beauty (as compared to sunsets by Vuong) is fleeting. It exists only briefly and the natural process of aging – hair thinning, skin creasing – is inevitable. Unfortunately, the elegance of aging, something so profound and precious, does not liberate women in the way that it should; it is not viewed as a kind of beauty in its own right. Instead, it slowly strips us of our value in society. Women are either racing their biological clocks or past their prime. It feels as though we cannot catch a break at all.
Here we are, in devoted pursuit of something not only impossible, but impractical and impermanent.
So why do we still want to be beautiful?
The reality is that while it may not bring the cost of groceries down, there are incentives for pursuing beauty. Studies show that it can open doors in the workplace, lead to relationships and opportunities, and is often associated with intelligence and wealth. However, similarly to the fleeting nature of physical beauty, the effects of being beautiful fade over time. Doors that open due to beauty, will likely not remain open because of it alone.
Instead, perhaps the greatest incentive for the pursuit of beauty is the sense of self-esteem, confidence, and agency it can provide. It can liberate women, reminding them of their power and independence; their value beyond their looks. It gives us the certainty that we are worthy and important. When you really think about it, it is not beauty at all that we are searching for, but the way that it makes us feel; the woman that we believe beauty can allow us to be.
My mom (a very beautiful woman in my eyes) has taught the value of substance since I was young, reminding me that I have no control over the way that I look. She has always said that it is the person that I am, the effort that I give, that brings my true value. And yet, I have always hoped to be beautiful, of course. I have grappled with concern of being vain or searching for beauty for beauty’s sake, yet believe that my personal pursuit of beauty exists in wanting to be accepted, worthy, and confident. I want to feel valued in society, but even more so, I want to value myself. Admittedly, it is not beauty that I am in pursuit of. I am in pursuit of what beauty may give me.
In response to Vuong’s question, I think the good in beauty exists in the way that it reminds us how much more we can be than simply beautiful. It is an impossible, impractical, impermanent feat and so, we endure, in pursuit of the women we believe we can be.
Vuong, Ocean. The Emperor of Gladness. Penguin Press, an Imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2025.
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