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BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

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Karen Gregor

In Search of Beauty

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Factual: Beauty & Style

28/11/2009

BBC Radio 4 Extra - In Search of Beauty

Supermodel Erin O'Connor explores the nature of beauty.

Supermodel Erin O'Connor investigates beauty - what is it and where do our ideas about it come from? From November 2009.

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? 

When Erin was growing 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.

BBC Radio 4 Extra

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama. With recent favourites from BBC Radio 4.

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