Jessica Simpson focuses on beauty

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Singer and sometimes actress Jessica Simpson has paid the price of beauty, and now she’s examining people’s obsession with looking good. She made headlines last year when photos of her suggested she might have gained a few pounds.

That sparked a media debate asking if Simpson was, indeed, fat. The 29-year-old turns the tables on questions about her looks in a new show called “Jessica Simpson’s The Price of Beauty.” The show premiered Monday and will air weekly on VH1.

Simpson travels the globe to examine people’s efforts to measure up to their society’s standard of beauty. In one episode, she meets a woman in Thailand who burned herself permanently from bleaching her skin lighter.