Going For The Look

In the society we all live in today, where outside beauty is emphasized more than inner beauty, businesses have realized how to utilize that view to their own benefit They have looked at trends and realized that it is profitable to hire those with outer beauty. However, since certain businesses are only hiring certain ethnicities in order to project that image, it has been questioned whether these businesses are discriminating. In the article, Going for the Look, but Risking Discrimination, it says that " hiring attractive people is not necessarily illegal, but discriminating on the basis of age, sex, and ethnicity is." The companies cannot help it that only certain types of people fit their marketing image and their hiring strategies are

Today’s jobseeker has tough competition. In our text book readings “Judging by the Cover” (657-658), Bonny Gainley begins the argument of the paper by stating that job seekers must be careful when they make personal choices that initially will affect their chances of entering the workplace. People have a need to be accepted by others just the way they are, in the same way people continue to say, “you can’t judge a book by its cover”, yet people do based solely on their personal appearances. That goes for businesses as well, “[t]he bottom line is that businesses exist to make money. Whether it seems fair or not, most employers do care about the personal appearances of the people they hire because those people represent the business to its customers”.

“Judging by the Cover,” is an essay written in 2003 by Bonny Gainley who is a consultant, speaker, and author. It originally appeared in an opinion column in a Colorado newspaper. Although non-discriminatory, she believes that people project messages about themselves with their appearance. This essay seems to be intended for recent graduates and young job seekers. The main point that she tries to explain to the reader is that even though our family and friends may accept us for who we are, employers may not.

When working at Wal-Mart in Minneapolis, Ehrenreich, and her co-workers, have a very strict dress code. “No nose or other facial jewelry, we learn; earrings must be small and discreet, not dangling; no blue jeans except on Friday, and then you have to pay $1 for the privilege of wearing them” (145). Uniformity is clearly happening here. Employees are forced to look presentable in Wal-Mart’s opinion of presentable.

Hollister Co. is an American lifestyle brand. Appearance plays an important role in the success of candidates during the Hollister Co. interview process. They enforce a strict dress code, which they expect their employees to abide by. Hollister’s theme is a “beach vibe”. The employees must wear contemporary Hollister style clothing, that fits their theme. On a daily basis the attire is assessed to make sure that staff are wearing that seasons colors.The female employees must have the “beach babe” look, which

The Cardigan family has made a name for themselves in the sweater industry. CARDWARE, Inc. is growing and has opened ten new stores nationwide under the name “The Sporty One.” The slogan the store advertises its sports ware with is “You don’t have to be an athlete to look and feel like one.” CARDWARE, Inc. wants to employ slender, young employees, so that the clothing line can keep with the sporty image. They placed an ad online advertising that they wanted to hire an experienced salesperson, in retail sales or marketing, who is energetic, youthful, athletic, and able to “sport” the clothing lines of The Sporty One with style. Petunia Rotunda, a middle aged, slightly plump woman, who has five years of retail experience working in a garden shop. Noah Dahl, a college graduate in marketing, a slender racquetball player who has not had any retail experience. Petunia and Noah

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.

During Honest Works first chapter “Everyday ethics at work” our author’s discuss the idea of appearance discrimination (P: 25-29). The section deliberates the idea that employees are selected based on their physical attractiveness. The cosmetology industry makes its bread and butter on telling women they are not “pretty” enough; therefore, exasperating the problem. Should cosmetic industries be held at least partially responsible for the perpetuation of this form of discrimination?

Along with people who look good wearing the clothes, companies also want people who will bring the look even farther. These companies want the people they hire to expand the image that the consumers see. They can do this by the person alone. It could be their skin tone or their bone structure, but the brands want

while having attractive employees can help make the store and its image more appealing, the discriminative undertones may make the whole thing worthless. the whole idea of this policy is to hire attractive people over those considered unattractive. Sometimes, the attractiveness of potential employees is based on a specific image that the company they work for want to project, and that image usually has a specific

The article named “The ugly vanishes but with them goes talent” written by Lucy Callaway, published in the Financial Times on 19, July 2015, in which the author claims that the companies in nowadays choose to hire only attractive people, who are significantly above the average appearance. The author is also assuming that by doing so the companies are missing the group of potential “stars” and risking by underperformance at work. The article, more or less is based only on the author’s prejudice, she doesn’t have any significant evidence on such a statement, she is irrational and fallacious.

Many studies have proved that physical attractiveness plays a significant role in the hiring process. Applicants who are perceived to be attractive are given better ratings compare to those who are not very attractive. Despite the fact that in many cases the candidate is equally qualified and sometimes even more qualified than the attractive candidate (Cash, Gillen, & Burns, 1977).

Lookism is a more and more pressing problem for companies and corporations, that strive to create an equal opportunities work space. The definition of lookism is “bias or discrimination against individuals on the basis of appearance, often unconscious.” This discrimination refers to both people who are not perceived as attractive and those who have to deal with the stereotypes connected to being exceptionally good-looking.

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.

We make women believe that they have to be a certain height, weight, and have other desirable features in order to be beautiful. Not only do we teach this to women but also to society which means when it comes to service or entertainment, there is a demand for attractive women. According to Julie Tappero, there have been three cases in which women were discriminated based on their looks. One case of lookism involves Debrahlee Lorenzana, who sued Citibank after they fired her because she wore clothes that were distracting to her male coworkers and because she was “too hot” (Tappero par. 18). In this particular case, she was apparently too attractive for the job. Lookism is not a concept tied to unattractive people but rather to all. Another case she mentioned was Annette McConnell, who weighed 300 pounds and was removed from her job because her supervisor said “people don’t like to buy clothes from fat people.” (Tappero par. 18). The last case she mentioned included Cassandra Smith, who sued Hooters after she was told to join a gym and “lose weight and improve her looks.” (Tappero par. 18). All of these women were fired from their job due to the fact that they did not have the looks or was too hot. Losing a job can lead to financial issue later on, especially if you do not find a job