There are many different words to describe different types of women. Some aren’t very flattering but I’ll leave those be for now. Some of the more flattering ones are cute, sexy, attractive, and beautiful.

J-pop idols, such as in AKB48, are cute. They are trained to be cute, and do a very good job of it. They are mostly but not entirely young girls and women, and they can even be very nice to look at. But I don’t really think they’re beautiful.

Sexy is another word used to describe women. This word can be applied to some of the older pop (and J-pop, and K-pop too) stars. Unfortunately, it can also be applied to prostitutes. I think of a woman as sexy when they make a man like me want to, er, put a baby in them. But I don’t think that’s beautiful. It’s also a trap, and often deliberately set. I ignore sexiness, because by itself, it’s dangerous, as it has nothing to do with anything at all deep.

Attractive is another word used to describe women as well. In my opinion, it is a more neutral word, as I have seen it used for children as well (“she’s an attractive child”, and that has nothing to do with anything prurient). It denotes a state of mind that makes one want to spend time with someone, and while physical attractiveness can be a part of that, it’s incidental. It’s the closest thing to beauty so far. But it’s not beauty.

So what is beauty? Beauty shines. Beauty is when you can look at a woman and see the little girl she once was shining through. Beauty is a radiance that has little to do with physical attractiveness (though physical attractiveness can enhance beauty that’s already there.) Beauty is a woman who grabs your hand and drags you somewhere because she just can’t contain her excitement, and you are just happy that she shares that with you. Beauty is a joy for life that radiates out and affects everyone around her, a purity of heart that doesn’t use people for her own gain. That’s beauty.

And it’s so unfortunate that it seems rare.

Cute and sexy women can be horribly ugly. And you wouldn’t even know it until you spend some time with them. But beautiful women can’t. And to me, that’s what beauty is. The lack of internal ugliness. No one’s perfect, of course. But I’d rather have beautiful than sexy any day of the week.