In Search Of Beauty

Erin O'Connor, whose beauty defies convention, discusses this knotty subject-area. What is beauty?

Where do our ideas about beauty come from? How is our life-experience affected by how we look?

As Erin grew up, she was convinced she was ugly. She would dart across the road diagonally so she wouldn't draw attention to her nose by crossing in front of stationary cars. She was so self-conscious about her flat-chest that she would regularly wear two padded bras.

But one day she was told she was beautiful, scooped up by the modelling industry and presented as the uber-elegant catwalk queen, sought after and richly rewarded.

What did they see in her that she would never have seen in herself? Beauty?

With the help of renowned facial-reconstructive surgeon Professor Iain Hutchison, who has treated people with severe facial disfigurement; and Professor of Children's Literature, Kim Reynolds who has studied the way beauty is regarded in traditional stories, Erin explores various opinions and experiences of beauty.

Erin also goes behind the scenes at London Fashion Week, to an event called 'All Walks Beyond the Catwalk'; it used a wide range of models - both in size and age - as a way to broaden the range of catwalk models used at such influential events.

Producer: Karen Gregor

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2009.