[How About This Book] Beyond Beauty, There Is Someone's Pain

'Diamond,' a Product of Human Desire
Mined Through Slave Abuse and Labor Exploitation
Makeup and Botox Also 'Destructive Acts'
Obsession with Beauty Leads to Unhappiness in Life

"Nothing is more useful than water, but almost nothing can be bought or exchanged with water. Conversely, diamonds have almost no use value, but can be easily exchanged for almost all goods."

This is a passage written by Adam Smith, the father of economics, in his 1776 work The Wealth of Nations. It is known as the diamond-water paradox, or more generally, the "paradox of value." It points out the phenomenon where diamonds, which have much less utility value than water, are traded at a much higher price, meaning they have a much higher exchange value. Today, economics explains this through the theory of marginal utility and scarcity. In other words, because diamonds are scarcer, the satisfaction humans gain from consuming diamonds is greater, and therefore they are traded at a higher price. However, satisfaction is a value that is difficult to generalize.

American columnist Katie Kelleher, who wrote The Ugly History of Beautiful Things, mentions the paradox of value and argues that none of the explanations fully account for why people willingly pay a lot of money for diamonds. Instead, she emphasizes that the reason high value is assigned to gems is due to perceived desire. People are willing to pay a lot for diamonds because those who already own diamonds have declared them valuable, explaining it as a result of the power of storytelling, attractive advertising, and collective worship combined with the physical characteristics of diamonds. She also adds that humans are remarkably skilled at inciting desire.

[How About This Book] Beyond Beauty, There Is Someone's Pain

While there may be controversy over the value of diamonds, Kelleher’s argument that their value is ultimately a product of human desire seems valid.

The Ugly History of Beautiful Things fundamentally deals with human desire. Kelleher argues that beautiful objects project human desire, and the ugliness of desire is part and essence of beauty. Elaine Scarry, a Harvard professor, also defined beauty as an object of constant longing. In her 1999 philosophy book On Beauty and Being Just, she argued that beauty frees us from trivial worries and evokes a constant desire for replication, reproduction, and imitation.

Kelleher discusses gems including diamonds, mirrors, flowers, makeup, perfume, marble, ceramics, silk, and glass in her book. These are all objects linked to human desire for beauty. Because of the desire to pursue beauty, humans have caused many tragic histories and sometimes even self-destruction.

This is why Kelleher mentions ugly histories. In the 18th century, Portuguese colonial pioneers mined diamonds in Brazil using slave labor. Portugal even brought slaves from Africa to mine diamonds, and in the process, did not hesitate to abuse them through beatings and imprisonment. The global diamond processing company De Beers was founded by British Cecil John Rhodes, who established a monopoly system in South Africa. De Beers produced diamonds using prisoner labor, and to prevent prisoner miners from swallowing or hiding diamonds on their bodies, they were chained naked every night. Hundreds of workers lost their lives in De Beers mines under harsh conditions that violated even basic human dignity.

Makeup is an act of self-destruction driven by the desire to become beautiful. Botox, widely popular today, is a temporary physical alteration made by injecting toxins into the face. Reflecting on the meaning of makeup, Kelleher recalls a phrase printed on a tank top she wore in high school: "Live Fast, Die Pretty." Marble, which enhances the aesthetic beauty of buildings, also harms humans. Dust generated when marble breaks releases silica crystalline particles into the air, causing lung diseases.

Kelleher is a well-known columnist in the fields of art and design. She has contributed many articles on beauty to various media outlets such as The New York Times, The Guardian, Vogue, and Harper’s Bazaar for a long time. The book is easy and enjoyable to read. Not only is the subject matter itself interesting, but Kelleher’s accumulated historical and humanities knowledge adds to the pleasure of reading. When explaining mirrors, she unpacks the theory of French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan. She explains that human childhood ego development occurs when one looks into a mirror and realizes they are a person with a body boundary, and Lacan named this period the "mirror stage" of human development.

Kelleher’s conclusion after long exploration of the value of beauty is also intriguing. She concludes that she has never seen an object that has pursued beauty without being corrupted by human greed or blemished by the chemical effects of time. Beauty is ultimately temporary and fleeting. Kelleher said she started wearing makeup as a teenager and when she looks at photos of her younger self who wanted to become more beautiful, she realizes how beautiful she was just as she was. She also says that obsession with beauty has brought her some unhappiness, even to the point of depression, but beauty still gives hope and a sense of purpose in life. She emphasizes that beauty and depression are two core elements of her life, and ultimately desire and disgust exist as a pair. Kelleher’s insight is interesting as it resonates with the nature of today’s consumer-oriented capitalist economy.