It took me a while to figure out what to post for this blog.
After some thought, the answer came to me as I perused a magazine: beauty. Our
society makes so many assumptions about ability and intelligence based on a
person’s attractiveness. Beautiful people are perceived, often subconsciously, as
“better” – more capable, better equipped, healthier, and more intelligent than
people who are perceived as less attractive. I will never forget a moment I had
at work several months ago. My manager conducted an interview with an
applicant, then gave me a sheet of notes to review. She had written two
columns: pros and cons to hiring the applicant. The VERY FIRST pro? “Applicant
is attractive.” This immediately struck me as something quite disturbing –
although the applicant was highly qualified, the most important factor to my
manager, it seemed, was her looks. Unfortunately, this is probably a common
scenario that plays out every day. Managers, customers, etc . - they all seem
to gravitate towards attractive people.
There are many other subtle indications of beauty being “better,
essential” made every day. When a pretty girl dies suddenly, for example, we
often hear people say things like, “what a waste….she was so beautiful!” Comments
about her intelligence or personality always seem to come secondary – beauty tends
to be the first thing that is remarked upon.
In the picture I have posted, beauty is being used to sell a
product. Consumers want to look like the couple in the photo: beautiful.
Because being beautiful leads to other perks in life: power, popularity,
success, wealth. Whether we say it outright or not, I think this is all
something we know: in our society, beauty is equated with “better.”
Rachel, I think you brought up great point and I agree with you. Unfortunately, I think its true that people are perceived to be more or less capable and intelligent just by the way they look. I have also witnessed things like that as well, and I'm sure that everyone has. Its sad,but an unfortunate fact in our society (probably in all societies).
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a good point about beauty: it's a common scenario to see it as an almost subconscious requirement for many things--job interviews included. This makes me think about the power of beauty almost being a positive or negative reinforcement for a lot of behaviors, or even a motivator for things like going after lucrative professions, thinking that attraction is immediately synonymous with intelligence. It's probably the reason why advertisement and corporate environments thrive on hiring attractive people--it gives off the illusion that 'only the best' are fit to run in those circles; those who are the most intelligent and savvy are seen through that image of beauty and highly valued whether or not the substance is there in reality.
ReplyDeleteIt can be a handicap sometimes being so ridiculously good looking. Just kidding. You bring up a point that is often overlooked but evident in just about everyones lives. The beautiful people are often perceived to be capable and intelligent despite no interaction with them at all. I think fame can be lumped into that category as well. The first thing that I think of is an "honorary degree". In some cases sure, but in a lot, what was really done to "earn" that degree other than look really good or be famous. I was witness to this pretty frequently in the service industry and mostly in the high end arena where good looking employees where given the important tasks despite their knowledge of a given product or service.
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