If you've ever read the autobiography of a world-class beauty, did it really reveal her inner experience?

Asked by Jeruba (55829

) May 29th, 2010

Cate Blanchett might know the answer to this, but I don’t: what is it really like to be an internationally celebrated beauty? How do you experience the power that your appearance gives you over others? How is it a blessing and how is it a curse? Can you even see what others see when they look at you?

This question is not asking for speculation. It’s asking: have you ever read the words of a woman who is qualified to report on this experience in the first person and who has actually gone ahead and revealed what it is like? I’m looking for a pointer to the book.

A really honest interview would also do.

Since this subject matter is way outside my normal reading range, I’m hoping that memory and personal recommendations will be more useful than a hit-or-miss search.

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4 Answers

Audrey Hepburn briefly speaks about it in her interview (about 4 minutes in) with Barbra Walters. In Hepburn fashion she is evasive and gracious, but she does acknowledge that it is why her work with UNICEF received attention.

As an aside, the last paragraph of the second column of this article: http://www.audreyhepburnlibrary.com/50s/images/goodhousekeeping8-59pg4.jpg offers a quote from Hepburn that you may find interesting.

liminal (7769

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i do think Cate Blanchett is one of the outstanding beauties of our age, but mere aesthetic appeal tends to open a path through life that is facile and unfulfilling, laced with insecurity and dread at the prospect of old age, to be admired aesthetically would become tedious and restrictive. The capacity to turn heads is a difficult drug to quit however.

mammal (9431

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So, @mammal—have you read anything on the subject along the lines I was asking for? Do you have a title to suggest?

Jeruba (55829

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I have the book called “The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe” (by J. Randy Taraborrelli) It has a lot of pictures and articles that you can’t find anywhere else. I would recommend it, if you like Marilyn♥

bellusfemina (821

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