Attractive people have affairs?

I believe that it is. One of those popular groups in the UK is the five-woman line-up 'Girls Aloud'. Nicole Roberts is the by far the most talented singer, but she is hardly the best looking of the quintet, neither does she have the best body. In fact, during publicity shoots the band's management usually endevour to hide her at the back as much as possible. Nevertheless, during their stage performances it is Nicole who is the most electric performer, giving off a vibe that shouts "It's ME that you really want, isn't it? And I had to admit that she was right. It actually IS Nicole that I found the most attractive of all of them! As a matter of interest, I believe that it was Nicole who was the first to land herself a husband, and that this man is far more loyal and steadfast in his devotion than the husbands of other women in the band.

In contrast, a woman - or a man - who BEHAVES in an unattractive manner will generally be perceived as unattractive. I'm willing to bet that if someone were to lay out a series of 8 x 10 publicity shots of Keri Russell and Adrienne Shelly in front of a group of men in their 20's and 30's, that most of them would pick out Adrienne as the most beautiful. However, if you were to take an identical group of men to a screening of 'Waitress' and ask the same question, then virtually all of them would say that Keri Russell as Jenna was the most beautiful. I very much doubt if any of them would even have noticed Adrienne Shelly as Dawn! Poor, miserable Dawn EXPECTED to be seen as unattractive, and so she WAS seen as unattractive. This is why she was so alarmed as Ogie's attention towards her. Anyone who was interested in someone as repellant as her HAD to have something wrong with him!

UPDATE: The marriage of Cheryl Cole - generally regarded as the foxiest of 'Girls Aloud' - has just done into terminal meltdown after her football star husband was caught (cough) 'playing away from home'. The situation is so serious that Cheryl has announced that she will have the tattoo bearing his name removed! Meanwhile, Nicola's relationship remains as strong as ever. I guess that proves my point.

On another note, I must cauntion Anniston never, EVER to use the word 'slutty' in relation to an English girl. The word 'slut' is far, FAR more powerful in the UK than it is the US. It is regarded as so offensive that American porno films such as 'Satan's School For Sluts' are even re-titled 'Satan's School For Sinners' in Britain. The UK's humourous satirical magazine 'Viz' runs a strip featuring a pair of overweight tarts called Tracy and Sandra. The strip is actually run under the title 'The Fat Slags' rather than the more appropriate 'The Fat Sluts'. In case anyone is wondering what 'slag' is, it is the poisonous filth discharged from an industrial plant. Slag is worthless toxic garbage. To label someone a 'slag' in the UK is the equivalent of calling them a 'low-life douchebag' in the US. Neverthess, this term is still regarded as LESS offensive than 'slut'.

Oddly enough, because of the widespread popularity of the magazine, Britain's teenagers and twenty-somethings have started to refer to slutty girls as 'slags' and the word is beginning to chage its meaning. For people of my generation (30s and 40s), 'slag' was an insult that was far more frequently applied to men rather that to women. In those rare instances when it WAS applied to a woman it was usually because of a general vileness of character rather than loose sexual behaviour. For the record, I always use the term 'slag' in the 'scumbag' sense of the word as I still have fond memories of John Thaw and Dennis Waterman in the cop show 'The Sweeney'.

What can I say? I'm just an old-fashioned boy at heart!