Samantha Brick: Maybe you're just a bitch?

If you hadn't heard of journalist Samantha Brick before last week, you certainly have now.

Samantha Brick as caused a two day storm on Twitter, after she wrote an article on the Daily Mail entitiled: 'Why do women hate me for being beautiful?'. Since her article went online, she received 5,000 comments and gained the Daily Mail 1.5 million hits to their website. Impressive.

But why has it got people so riled up?

Firstly, it is critical that we look at the offending subject matter: Brick's beauty.



"I'm not smug." Really? Really?!



Now Samantha Brick is not an unattractive lady. Her airbrushed photograph reveals perfectly highlighted blonde hair, groomed nails and a simple complection that makes her a particularly unoffensive sight for the eyes. In fact, I bet thousands of men are really into that over-the-hill school teacher simplicity. But beautiful, she is not. Now I could sit here for hours and try to define beauty, or I could point out some of the universally considered beauties of the day. So I'm gonna go with the latter, because I'm lazy as shit.

The sexy and smouldering Angelina Jolie. The cute-as-a-button Zooey Deschanel. The blonde bombshell that is Scarlett Johansen. These woman can be labelled as 'beautiful'. In fact, they are labelled as beautiful every single day. But, now here is the ever so crucial difference; they have never labelled themselves as beautiful. And that's what everyone is so pissed off about.

Samantha Brick herself realised in the article that she was "no Elle McPherson" but nevertheless claimed to be so beautiful that her looks have affected her career, her relationships and her social life. What she seems to be missing is that no one, not even her idol Elle McPherson is that beautiful.

Even comapnies and celebrities are jumping on the bandwagon.

Samantha Brick claimed that people would stop on the street to admire her beauty. Not only that, they would then go and buy flowers for her, buy her champagne and even train tickets, that's how beautiful she (says she) is. Most hilariously of all, she now comes to expect this kind of behaviour wherever she goes and takes random acts of kindness as a token to her beauty. After a airline captain sent over a bottle of champagne on a flight, she writes, "While it was lovely, it wasn't a surprise. At least, not for me."

But the article wasn't about how beautiful she is. It was about the dark side to beauty, and how her godforsaken looks nearly ruined her life. No, not rape. No, not human trafficking either. Erm, no, not eating disorders. Shit, this is getting a little embarrasing now. No, it's not to do with mental issues either, though I suppose that it debatable. Yes, you've got it! Her beauty caused no significant life problems whatsoever.

Samantha Brick details how she was prevented from climbing the career ladder because her female boss was jealous of her undeniable beauty. Another boss told her that her dress sense was "too distracting" for her colleagues, forcing her to don unflattering pant suits. She talks about how her friends would turn to ice whenever she was around their husbands. But why, oh why, can't she see that this has nothing to do with looks?

Since the internet has turned against her, Samantha Brick has written a comeback story, saying that the reaction has "proved" the fact that people hate her because she is beautiful. What's more, she is now trying to write the reaction off as "a gender issue". No one hates Samantha Brick because she is beautiful, I think that is clear to see. In fact, no one really hates Samantha Brick. Mostly people are a little embarrassed for her and the rest find it absolutely hilarious that someone has turned around, in real life and written online on the Daily (bloody) Mail: "Don't hate on me for being really, really, ridiculously good-looking."

She may be very hurt by the comments people have made about her, but it seems that she still doesn't understand that no one thought she was particularly ugly before that article, but stating that you are beautiful inevitably brings critique.

Samantha Brick has been deluded into thinking that it is her beauty that has resulted in women "hating" her. If it has been universally aknowledged that she is simply not that pretty, then what else could it be? After pondering this for quite some time I have come to this astounding and somewhat revolutionary conclusion: Maybe she's just a bitch.