Reading The Beauty Biad The Importance of Appearance The Cost of Conformity Families and Social Change I m tired of all this nonsense about beauty being only skin deep That s deep enough What do you want an adorable pancreas Jean Kerr 1 People underestimate the extent to which attractiveness skews their evaluations a Only 1 3 of employees in a national survey believed that in their workplaces physically attractive individuals were more likely to be hired or promoted b Yet a cottage industry of studies indicates that bias is pervasive 2 What is attractive Is beauty a definable property or a subjective perception a b Can attractiveness be quantified and measured in research c Although beauty is in the eyes of the beholder most beholders agree about the appeal of certain characteristics i Evidence of health and fertility o Facial Symmetry o Unblemished skin o An hourglass figure ii Preferences particularly surrounding weight and hygiene have varied considerably across time and culture iii The globalization of media has certainly brought an increase in the convergence of standards of beauty d Truth of Consensus i Subjects rate a photograph or an individual on a scale of attractiveness ii Those ratings are then averaged to produce an overall consensus o Strikingly high degree of agreement even across sexes races ages socioeconomic statuses and cultural backrounds i The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance prefers the term e Fat fat o Members believe fat carries less stigma and fewer contested connotations of abnormality o However in conventional use fat is taken as more offensive than overweight ii iii fat also appears to be less precise and less consistent with social science and lega terminology Obesity and Overweight are used for legal and scientific rulings and Fat is used to discuss the efforts of activists f Discrimination based on appearance i A big continuum o Involuntary Characteristics Height Facial features Also sex race and ethnicity 1 However they are more fundamental than other traits and are generally considered separate in legal and theoretical discussion o Voluntary Characteristics Clothing Grooming o Mixed Biological and behavioral foundations Obesity g Interpersonal Relationships and Economic Opportunities i 11 of couples surveyed would abort a fetus genetically predisposed to obesity infants stare longer at attractive faces ii iii Parents and teachers give less attention to less attractive children o And they are less likely to be viewed as good smart cheerful likeable and socially skilled as their more attractive counterparts o Children quickly internalize these judgments They ascribe better personality traits to good looking individuals and prefer them as friends o The ostracism that unattractive and obese children face can lead to serious mental health difficulties and discourage healthy athletic activity iv During adolescence By age 12 o Many teenagers self esteem becomes dependent on appearance Girls place greater emphasis on attractiveness than competence Their frequent dissatisfaction with their looks can result in anxiety shame eating disorders and related dysfunctions o Individuals unattractiveness in their early years can set off a chain of developmental difficulties that ultimately become self reinforcing Ridicule and marginalization often lessen self confidence and social skills which then translate into less satisfactory interpersonal and career experiences in later life v Many college students surveyed would prefer a spouse who is an embezzler drug user or shoplifter than someone who is obese vi Unattractive individuals receive less favorable treatment in a variety of settings o Higher sentences o Lower damage awards in legal proceedings o Lower ratings of ideas style and creativity When essays are evaluated along with a portrait o Resumes Hiring Opportunities o Salaries Raises Promotions Especially jobs relying on influence and image rather than physical labor vii In politics attractive candidates receive more than twice as many votes as unattractive candidates o Even though three quarters surveyed voters deny that their views are influenced by appearance viii Double standards o Amplify disadvantages for women 60 of overweight women and 40 of overweight men report experiences of employment discrimination Researchers consistently find a significant income penalty for being overweight especially in women Obese women are more likely to be in poverty o Short men males are penalized in hiring promotion and earnings and are underrepresented in leadership positions o For racial and ethnic minorities Those with dark skin and nappy hair have lower income and occupational status even controlling for SES background h Self esteem Stigma and Quality of Life i of women ranked appearance as the number one of the main factors affecting their self image ii 1 3 of women ranked appearance as the most important quality above job performance and intelligence iii Stigma is particularly grand for obese individuals iv Hedonic Treadmill o 90 of obese individuals report humilitating comments from friends families or co workers o 90 of formerly obese individuals would rather be blind than return to being fat o Obese individuals are at a greater risk for depression anxiety low self esteem and other mental health problems Subject to dispute as to how much of an extent o The one more has the one more needs to have Desires expectations and standards of comparison increase as rapidly as they are satisfied o Enduring satisfaction is more likely to come from being comfortable with who we are than from constantly attempting to upgrade our image Much of the effort and concern that individuals now invest in their appearance could be better spent on relationships with family and friends and on paid or volunteer work that leads to personal growth or makes a meaningful social contribution i Gender Differences i Obese women are 20 percent less likely to marry than those average weight a figure twice as high as for obese men ii Attractiveness does not affect how often men date iii Men s status is enhanced by being seen with an attractive companion of the opposite sex o By contrast women are penalized for unattractiveness and get no boost from the appearance of a partner iv In general women care less than men about their potential partner s appearance and more about earning capability v Men are generally viewed as becoming more attractive with age as opposed to women who are