Effects Of Beauty On The Labor Market Essay

(In one study, economists Jeff Biddle and Daniel Hamermesh estimated that for lawyers, such prejudice can translate to a pay cut of as much as 12 percent.) When researchers ask people to evaluate written essays, the same material receives lower ratings for ideas, style and creativity when an accompanying photograph shows a less attractive author. Good-looking professors get better course evaluations from students; teachers in turn rate good-looking students as more intelligent. Not even justice is blind. In studies that simulate legal proceedings, unattractive plaintiffs receive lower damage awards. And in a study released this month, Stephen Ceci and Justin Gunnell, two researchers at Cornell University, gave

Steven Greenhouse, writer for New York Times, states in his article “Going for the Look,but Risking Discrimination”, that companies are hiring people based only on how attractive they look and are risking discrimination because of it. Greenhouse then supports his claim by giving examples, like L’Oreal, Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch, and W Hotel. He next proceeds to show that hiring based off looks can result in lawsuits and discrimination. Finally, he informs that stores have hired good looking people who are incompetent rather than hiring someone who is not that good looking but is experienced. Greenhouse’s purpose is to show that although it is not illegal to only hire attractive people, it might not be morally correct to just hire on looks.

This essay is for women who believe their thighs are too big, their breasts are too small, their hair is boring, their skin is flawed, their body is shaped funny, or their clothes are outdated. This month's column is for women who believe their life would improve if they could lose 15 pounds; if they could afford contact lenses, that new perfume or anti-cellulite concoction; if they got a nose job, a face lift, a tummy tuck, etc. This month's column is for women who feel shame or unhappiness when they ponder some part (or all) of their body. In other words, this month's column is for 99.9% of the women reading it!

Beauty standards are portrayed everywhere: on magazines, social media, ads, commercials, and even flaunted among peers. While the ideals are supposed to promote health awareness, fitness motivation, and self love, it unfortunately results in many unfavorable consequences. Women are constantly “penalized for not being beautiful and at the same time are stigmatized, even pathologized, for not feeling beautiful, for having low self-esteem, for engaging in behaviors like dieting and excessive exercising, or for having eating disorders” (Johnston and Taylor 954). Beauty standards are unrealistic and unhealthy to pursue, and misinforms the public on what true beauty is. While not all beauty image ideals promote negative feelings and dissatisfaction, many believe that the negative effects far outweighs any positive effects.

The good and evil of beauty dates back to the bible. Beauty can be a blessing or a temptress of evil, but it is a desirable fact of life. Whether an employer selects and individual based on their aesthetically desirable appearance is a discretionary decision well within the law, regardless of its ethical controversy. It is difficult to make a negative claim against any person or organization who favors physical attractiveness in an environment where we are raised and surrounded by physical aesthetics and it is our human nature. The ethical character of hiring someone based on physical appearance is subjective and a common practice. However, it is also a curious phenomenon.

Strangers will base their actions toward another person based on the first things they notice about that person, which most often includes a person’s looks. This proclivity is known as the “primacy effect”. “[The] primacy effect is the tendency to be influenced by what information we gather first…This information can be physical attractiveness…” (Hein 1). Although it is not certain as to why this effect is in place, it is certain that this effect is real and common in today’s society. This inclination for attractiveness to equal superior treatment follows over into areas of a person’s life that are not exclusively centered around recreational social interaction. For example, those who are universally thought of as being attractive “make 12 percent more money than those regarded as less good-looking” (Dobson 1). This shows that, yet again, beautiful people receive unjustified advantages from the unknowing people they interact with on a daily basis only because they are physically

Beauty always has been a center of instinctive attention. It fascinates and paralyzes the power of thinking. After all, beauty is the cause of disputes and propagation of love. For instance, men look at beauty before anything else. Jacob and Whilhelm Grimm’s “Little Snow-White” gives us a better look on the idea of both beauty power and competition. For example, the queen becomes jealous of Snow-White’s beauty and orders her huntsman to kill her but because she is so beautiful the huntsman let her live. This demonstrates how women are competing with each other when it comes to their beauty and how even the toughest men become weak due to a woman’s beauty. In the tale ‘Sun, Moon, and Talia’ by Giambattista Basile, the king goes out to hunt and comes across an inhabited palace. In that palace, he finds Talia sleeping due to an enchanted spell. He finds her beauty dazzling enough that he decides to rape and impregnate her. This shows how a woman’s beauty clogs a man’s conscience and causes a lack of moral codes. Talia gives birth to two children and the queen finds out. Envy gets the best of the queen and she orders the chef to cook the children. She could not bear another woman being in her husband’s life. Men become weak when it comes to women and they do not usually care about the consequences of their actions.

Today in society almost everything is affected by beauty whether it’s done consciously or subconsciously. The fairness of beauty is a controversial subject since the world we live in prizes beauty and rewards those who are believed to be beautiful. However, most people on each side agree on the fact that beauty is valuable. Italian actress and author, Sophia Loren, believes this statement but also claims in her book, Women and Beauty, “beauty may seem unfair until you come to understand what beauty really is and what part it plays in your life.” Although Loren’s point is strong, her personal experience with beauty leaves her blind unable to notice the other side of the spectrum. Beauty comes with it’s own advantages and disadvantages, but what

The U.S. society has placed a big responsibility on the women on staying in a shape and take care of themselves. We can see this on the Ads we see on the Television. The Print Media is also emphasizing that woman to look a certain way. Beauty is a billion-dollar industry in the US. Every woman wants to feel beautiful. In my opinion beauty is high rated in America. The emphasis of the woman being beautiful from outside should be reversed and Amerian society should make their intention on beautifying themselves from inside. Beauty has put a high cost on the American women.The cost of beauty is also high around the word putting the coil on the women neck is also very drastic

The arena in which facial appearance has been studied the most is politics – and an examination of that is especially appropriate in this election year. But the voting arena is also a good area to study the effects of appearance more generally, because many of our social decisions essentially amount to a vote: whom do we hire, whom do we date, whom do we trust? As in those instances, when we vote for a political candidate, we like to think we are examining the person on his or her merits, not on looks. But are

Citigroup Inc (2010) by a former Citibank employee claiming that she was terminated for being “too hot” according to her filed complaint. Following this introduction section, the authors first provide some background material as to societal norms concerning “attractiveness,” the existence of appearance discrimination in society, especially regarding employment, and the presence of a certain “preferring the pretty” norm, and consequently discrimination against less attractive people.

The Halo Effect is the cognitive bias that generalizes that if an individual has one outstanding favorable character trait, the rest of that individual’s trait will be favorable. Specific to physical attractiveness, this is known as the “Attractiveness Halo.” Attractiveness plays an important role in determining social interactions. In fact, the physical attractiveness of an individual is a vital social cue utilized by others to evaluate other aspects of that individual’s abilities (Kenealy, Frude, & Shaw, 2001). Because of the attractiveness halo, attractive applicants trying to enter the workforce tend to

Overall people perceived as beautiful have more job opportunities as well as a higher chance for advancement in their carriers. A study was conducted by the University of North Carolina at Pembroke on the topic of the relationship between attractiveness of professors and the perceived quality of their teaching. What the study found out was a strong relationship between the two – “results indicated that as hotness ratings increased, so did ratings on overall quality, clarity, and helpfulness. Additionally, further analysis indicated that the greater the percentage of hotness ratings to overall ratings, the more likely that students rated the professors favorably.” Moreover research shows that attractive people perform better when interviewed. An interesting fact is

The article “Beauty and the Labor Market” by Daniel S. Hamermesh and Jeff E. Biddle examines the economics of discrimination in the labour market based on looks and the relationship that exists between beauty and labour market earnings. Analyzing, results from several studies, data from various empirical research and surveys; the article identifies the source of earnings differentials related to looks in six distinct and detailed sections.

It's imperative to live up to beauty standards because your beauty should be valued by your self-worth.