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I love how personality seems to automatically denote integrity and authenticity to some folk, whereas they dismiss physical appearance as a somehow lesser expression of our innermost selves.
Real enlightened.
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I have no illusions about the value of keeping a good appearance in both of our respective cultures. There are multibillion dollar corporations out there hawking their products on the tube, in magazines, and on billboards to make people improve their body image: the implication being in many of these instances that improved body image leads to greater self-confidence. I understand improving one's own self-confidence can be a good thing. On the other hand--and this applies to women hawking beauty products--some young girls draw the conclusion that in order for boys to notice them, them need to starve themselves into nothingness to look like Kate Moss. Clearly this is where the addiction to the image can have terrible consequences.
As far as the personality denoting integrity more than the body, I certainly think that this is plausible considering that I can only get an idea of a person's character by how he or she acts, what he or she says, and how he or she relates to others. I really can't get all of that merely from a person's body or physical appearance. While the upkeep of one's physical appearance might suggest favorable social habits and values, there is no necessary connection between the two: the same would also hold for the relation between a frazzled, unruly appearance and intellectual/artistic sophistication.
