Vanity Is Not the Vice You Think It Is

"Vanity" is often used as a smear against pride in the body. Wanting to look good is not automatically shallow, irrational, or morally suspect. Aesthetic self-cultivation can express self-respect, embodiment, sexuality, discipline, play, and joy. The corruption comes when appearance is severed from reality, health, values, and self-command, or when self-worth becomes dependent on other people's reactions. The desire to cultivate the body deserves a more honest moral evaluation than reflexive dismissal.