*ahem*
I never called her ugly and I've been supporting her all season.
What I said, and I still stand by this statement, is that in terms of how society views beauty, when judging a person's face, she is objectively homely and her scores have been lower because of it.
We can deny it all we want, but peoples' emotions (including judges) are swayed by how much we like looking at a person and those emotions influence how we evaluate the person.
If Akiko had a face as popular as Yu-Na's in terms of the societal definitions of beauty, she would be a contender for Gold.
So it was you! For some reason I thought it might be the poster janetfan, as I frequently get the two of you mixed up, my apologies. And thanks for stepping forward, as I just now did a search of the COC forum, and recognized your comments, as well as your comment about Cynthia Phaneuf at NHK wherein you called her a "horse face".
You have a right to your opinion, of course, we all do, but I don't agree with either one of them. Yet, my motto has always been I will support & protect one's right to freedom of speech, no matter how much I disagree with what one says.
Your comments & other posters' comments just reinforce my opinion that beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. We are all so diverse. Because I can honestly state that I have never seen Brian Joubert as attractive as others seem to. In fact the only male singles skater that I felt was drop dead gorgeous was that one guy from Canada, Fedor Andreev? or Andre Fedoreev? He's the one that tried to get citizenship from Azberitan? (sorry about the spelling) in order to skate in the Olympics. As for ladies, a young Katarina Witt was equally drop dead gorgeous (btw she hasn't aged as well as Dorothy Hamill has; just an observation, though I do admire European women for not doing plastic surgery, botox, et al, like the North American women do).
Anyhow, I only point the aforementioned out to underline my statement that beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. And on that note, as God is my witness, I never thought Akiko Suzuki was homely or unattractive, which is why your comments stood out to me (as well as the one about Cynthia Phaneuf). I liked her big eyes from the start because as anyone knows that has read my posts over the years I like big eyes, always have, they project so much, and remind me of silent film stars from long ago, wherein one had to had big eyes in order to portray emotion (same as traditional ballerinas in order to project out to the masses). This is one reason why I never quite got Meryl Davis, and in turn wrote a long post about her eyes last year or the year before. Lol, now I've gotten over it to a certain extent, but like I said earlier beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder, and that doesn't even take into account inner beauty. Nor how we all view artistry, et al. For example, to this day I do not get all the hoopla over Alexei Yagudin nor Jeffrey Buttle nor a bunch of other guys (e.g. Kulik). They're not my cup of tea, never have been, but I know my favorites do not inspire the same feelings for other skating fans as they do for me. So be it.
As for your assertion that Akiko's face is holding her back, I have to disagree, yet I do agree with you about society judging a person face first, so to speak. This is common, whether going for an interview, applying for a modeling job, evaluating a potential mate, etc. But as it applies to skating, I think you are dead wrong, lol!
Seriously, the only way it would matter would be if two skaters had everything else in common (i.e. jumps, speed, spins, skating style, personalities, body types, et al), then & ONLY then would looks come into play. Obviously the more attractive skater would win, and I would agree with it if I were on the judging panel, because that's when it comes down to the littlest things/splitting hairs. The more attractive skater would get the nod. But come on, when has that
really happened in skating? To be honest I would say never. Even my overheated comments about the Finnish ladies was hyperbole.
That said, I would say body type is more important in skating versus face, as it goes along with presentation/carriage/PCS in my humble opinion. Just like in ballet or modeling, if you don't have the figure, the height, the long limbs, you're out. Well in skating, if one doesn't have the straight knees, the turnout, the pointed toes, the carriage, the
refinement, then one shouldn't score higher than the one that has those things as well as everything else. In other words, if everything else is equal, then the nod will go to the one with the refinement, as it should be.
And the ONE that has it all, as it stands now, is Yuna Kim. She has everything & more, as I said at the beginning of the season, and state again now. And I'm not talking about her face, that's just a plus/bonus. The only way for anyone to beat her is for her to make mistakes, which I don't wish on anybody, or to outjump her because she has a 2+ triple jump advantage over anyone else, which I agree with. This is why I wish for everyone to skate their very best and let the chips fall where they may, same as the men. The absolute best competitions are when everyone skates their best and you win!:thumbsup:
. I think Akiko is pretty though. She is slim and athletic and has a cute face and nice hair. Not everyone can look like a supermodel like Kiira Korpi.
: as long as the eyes are not too big, it's fine with me. 
