That the depiction of protagonists in children's books and media as aesthetically superior is regrettable

We live in a Tinder society. We no longer judge people on how they act, but rather based on how they look. The idea is simple - if somebody looks desirable, then they are desirable. It's also the basis of our fascination with celebrities, whose photoshopped faces grace the covers of countless glamour magazines every week. Why do we care about these people? Because they look good, so we assume they must be good. And if they act human, it's a scandal. People lose their faith not in the myth, but in the person. People go to great lengths to point out how ugly they are. It's the height of vanity.

On side affirmative, we reject this base assumption. Good people come in all shapes and sizes. Mother Teresa, for example, would probably not generally be considered good-looking, but the value she provided to the world was nonetheless far greater than most heroes from children's books. It's a myth. The natural corollary of this view is that ugly = evil, but in the world we see ugly people be both evil and good. Morals and aesthetics are simply unrelated attributes. Let me justify why they should be depicted as such.

When you're growing up, hearing stories of the beautiful maiden and the handsome prince, those stories make a lasting impression on you. A child's brain has not yet learnt to think critically. Heck, even adults struggle with critical thinking on occasion. However, children's developing brains are extremely adept learners. That's why we plonk children in schools and tell them to learn stuff. The consequence, then, of giving kids the wrong message, is that they come to believe that message. This, in turn, perpetuates in how we view society, with a myopic Tinder lens.

These changes perpetuate inter-generationally as well. The children of those children grow up to parents believing these myths, serving as a positive reinforcement for this false ideal.

We see manifold, complex harms emerge as a result of this false ideology.

First, some people are ugly, at least in terms of social norms and standards. They feel awful and ostracized and begin trying to change their bodies to fit in, and in doing so, waste effort that is not spent being a good and useful member of society. Often, however, these standards are unattainable by these individuals. Not every girl can look like Kate Upton, not every guy can look like Brad Pitt. And that means this quest simply, at best, does not end. At worst, the person realizes this futility, and their self-esteem is reduced, because they are conditioned to believe they cannot be a good, valuable person without good looks. This manifests itself in two ways: first, people seek more extreme options for "enhancing" their appearance. The rise of plastic surgery, breast enlargements, and drugs such as steroids for instance, is symptomatic of this. And second, these more negative thoughts and emotions can compound other emotional issues, such as daily stress, leading to more drastic practical outcomes of these issues. For instance, when people feel inadequate, they may be more prone to suicide. These emotional states and insecurities make people more vulnerable to exploitation by predatory manipulators who use these issues against people for their own ends.

Second, some people are not ugly. The effect on these people is more nuanced, but quite visible when you look at the fate of most supermodels. On the one hand, the pressure to remain on top is enormous. Looking young, thin and beautiful can often better predict a person's success than actual talent, with physical attractiveness routinely correlated to higher pay for the same job. To this end, they actually suffer from much the same issues as the ugly people. However, they also face a number of additional problems. First, these unattainable standards are simply unhealthy. As such, many of these people rapidly end up with mounting medical bills. Second, many of them can become ridiculously conceited, looking down from positions of power which they never earned to the common people, and losing their sense of humility. This goes against the meritocratic nature of our idealized social self-image, and generally provides us with poor role models if we wish to be progressive in this world.

All this being said, the harms of the beautiful=good myth have always outweighed the benefits.

The resolution is affirmed.