Essay on Judging by the Cover

In Steven Greenhouse’s article “Going for the Look, but Risking Discrimination”, he expresses the experiences of a striking blonde girl and her specific encounters with employers of retail stores. She indeed is beautiful, striking, gorgeous, and absolutely perfect. Who could ever miss a chance to hire such a remarkable and flawless brand representer. In fact, many store employers are desperately in search of these types of people to help advertise themselves and their businesses. Although Marshal Cohen’s argument in his excerpt seems legitimate, it is actually flawed because having the looks can only take an individual so far.

“We all know that appearance matters, but the price of prejudice can be steeper than we often assume” (Washington1.) Published originally in the Washington Post on May 23,2010 by Deborah L. Rhode. Rhode the Professor of law and legal director at Stanford University in her essay “Why Looks Are The Last Bastion Of Discrimination,” argues that an individual's physical appearance is one of the few qualities of their personal identity that other people are legally within their rights to discriminate against. Rhode states her thesis clearly explaining the forthcoming reasons she will offer to uphold her position. Rhode believes that discriminating against individuals based on their appearance is wrong, and is often overlooked in many environments such as the workforce. Many think it is crucial that discrimination on looks is banned in workplaces, schools, and most other organizations.

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”.

People are judged for their appearance all over the world, every day. People with brown, ragged clothes are assumed to be less intelligent, or homeless. People with long hair are assumed to be female. There are many stereotypes that limit the social actions of many people, and it is not just in real life. Rodman Philbrick shows that these stereotypes are not always true in the book “Freak The Mighty” in the form of Maxwell Cane, Kevin, Loretta, and Iggy Lee. All of those characters are misjudged by others, and in some cases, even by themselves. The message that your appearance does not determine who you are is very important, and applies to everyone everywhere.

In today’s society looking good is important, especially in the working environment. Every occupation has some sort of dress code for employees to follow. Dress codes can range from wearing suits to gym shorts depending on one’s occupation. Employers decide if the candidate is qualified for the job based on appearance, and then what you wear for the job based on the company’s dress code. The question is can one’s employer dictate what is appropriate dress outside of the job? Employers should only have a say of what one wears while representing the company.

A considerable problem in today society is discrimination. Whether it’s based upon race, age, sexuality, or even looks, discrimination is a serious dilemma. Marshal Cohen, a senior industry analyst with the NPD Group, believes that hiring people who are “walking billboards” is critical and essential to a company’s success. The companies who hire based on looks, fail to realize that there are shoppers who do not care about the appearance of the store employees, just as long as they are receiving good customer service. People cannot completely control their appearance and brands like Abercrombie and Fitch, Hollister, and American Apparel should take notice to that.

Marx explained, “Job applicants are typically required to attach photographs to their résumés”, this lead Marx to believe that having their picture attach to their application depending on their looks must play an important key role in being hired instead of your ability and skill work. The idea of a face being attached to a job application encourages people to want to or intend to look their best by embracing cosmetic surgery changing their Asian face to a more American standard face. To sum it up, this proves that Asian American push themselves toward cosmetic surgery by changing their faces thinking American beauty can accomplish their road to a better life in

Dress code stop originality. They stop originality by stopping people from expressing themselves. No one can be their own self by wearing the same clothes all week every week. Sometimes people like to dress up for a special occasion,

There are many reasons why I believe that business should require dress codes for business. They should do this because as an employee for a specific job, like a nurse, you need to look as if you know about your job. There are certain jobs that should require certain things to wear, such: nurses, doctors, lawyers,

As the younger of two, I usually am judged as the least responsible. Have you ever judged someone because they are different? My story will show you that you shouldn’t. The denotation of judging a book by it’s cover is "to prejudge the worth or value of something, by its outward appearance alone. " My definition of judging a book by it’s cover is when you make a final decision about someone's personality before you truly get to know them.

Imagine you’re in a store and you’re in need of assistance but everyone is dressed casual. How would you know the difference from a person who works there, and a random shopper? Also, what would you think of a business if all their workers were dressed in jeans, sneaker, and random clothes they pulled out their closet. Although some people think otherwise and feel like a uniform won't let them express themselves. I believe a dress code is needed because it identifies the workers and gives the company a better look.

Companies realize that looks are everything to consumers, and they are the main initiative when it comes to hiring new workers. In studies shown by Timming, “Employer prejudice against tattoos is also driven largely by hiring managers’ perceptions of consumer expectations regarding body art in the workplace.” Employers are more concerned with a customer’s views of the tattoo on the other side of the service counter. After all, the customer is always right, and most importantly, the customer brings home the company’s bacon, the whole array of greasy goodness.

There is such a thing as appearance discrimination in this world. Appearance discrimination can be described as a lack of what society believes is beauty. Society years ago, may have sugar coated the reality of social issues such as this. People give prejudice judgment based solely on how one looks. It is not fair, but it is a topic that people have learned and are still learning to accept because of no political involvement for protection. Many victims question what could happen to those who discriminate so harshly in the workplace. Those affected or that have serious protests involving the issue ask if laws should be created, what kind of punishment will be established, and how it affects the economy. Having such a standard for jobs can put someone in the position to easily discriminate based on what type of duty is trying to be filled. Not everyone has the same opportunity to succeed in life because of one person’s biased opinion. It certainly makes some people wonder what could be done to stop this, and how it can be carried out.

Companies should not hire based on appearance because it is discriminating against people who have better