Martha Stewart: The swimsuit model

Martha Stewart – age 81 – appeared on the cover of this year’s Sports Illustrated’s annual swimsuit issue.

Since she appeared in the magazine in early May, I’ve heard three people speak about her appearance on the cover in a less than complimentary way. All three denigrated her physical appearance to varying degrees.

My thought:

The only ugly person in all three instances was the person who spoke negatively about Martha Stewart’s appearance.

I am neither a Martha Stewart fan nor a critic, but appearing on a swimsuit cover as an octogenarian is courageous, especially when you know that ugly, awful people in the world would most assuredly say terrible things about you.

My opinion:

There is no room in this world for anyone to speak about another person’s physical appearance in anything but a positive way.

Or preferably, as I highly recommend, not at all.

The world will be a far better place when we all find something meaningful to say about a person that does not speak to their physical appearance. But if you must focus on appearance, the ugliest thing you can do – and the thing that will make you appear most ugly – is to speak negatively about how someone else looks.

It says so very much about the quality of your character, the strength of your self-esteem, and the kindness of your heart.

And in the case of Martha Stewart’s appearance in the swimsuit edition, saying she “doesn’t look great” or “clearly made a bad decision” or “looks terrible in a swimsuit” is an ugly, shallow, and stupid thing to say in every circumstance.

It will always and forever say more about you than it could ever say about her.