Much has been made of the beauty of Argentines--especially the women--over the years. In this excellently intriguing Observer article from 2006, titled "High-flying, adored and siliconised", the writer plumbs the depths of beauty psychology and digs up the evocative quote, from an English friend who lived in Buenos Aires during the dictatorship, that, "Watching the women strut by on Florida Street is like watching racehorses at the paddock."

I won't get into this debate, save to note that Buenos Aires is not an ugly place. Or a great place to be ugly. Which brings us to today's article from BBC News correspondent Daniel Schweimler about Argentine writer Gonzalo Otalora (above). The article, titled "Argentina: Ugly people strike back," takes the re-publication of Otalora's book "Feo" ("Ugly") as the leaping off point to discuss the difficulties the homely, pimpled and asymmetrical face in Argentina. "But not everyone in Buenos Aires is beautiful," Schweimler writes. "Otalora, for instance, is downright ugly, and he is not embarrassed to admit it."

Otalora is also funny. He is heartened by the boom in unlovely Argentine celebs like President Néstor Kirchner and footballer Carlos Tevez, but saddened by the arrival of the aesthetically remodeled Cristina as presidenta. And he's doing something about it:

He planted himself in front of the presidential palace, the Casa Rosada or Pink House, to harangue President Nestor Kirchner to change the law. It's not fair, he said. The beautiful people get all the breaks. Beauty is a natural advantage and he wants the good-lookers to be taxed to finance compensation for the ugly people.