Looks, Beauty, & Appearance Discrimination in Employment
Employment discrimination legislation has evolved to include race, disabilities, sexual harassment of either gender, and age. In lieu of this evolution and an increasing trend toward equality for all individuals in the workplace, the time has come for the protective reach of employment discrimination law to cover ugliness. While the proposal may cause titters at first, evidence exists that discrimination based on looks (or physical appearance) occurs in the workplace. An investigation was conducted by ABC’s 20/20 news program in 1994 that sent two men and two women into the workplace to secure the same jobs (Sessions 1). The individuals were coached to act in a similar manner during the interviews and took with them resumes with matching education and experience. The only difference was that one of the men and one of the women was superior in physical attraction to their counterpart. The results demonstrate whether intentional or not, looks discrimination does play a role in the employment process “In five cases out of five, the more attractive woman got the job; in three chances out of three, the more attractive man was hired” (Sessions 1).
Historically, legislation aimed at physical appearance is not a revolutionary concept. Many jurisdictions had laws in the past that barred “ugly” or “unsightly” people from appearing in public places. Such laws today would cause an outcry among civil rights activists. Yet, legislation aimed at protecting “ugly” people from discrimination does not exist on a national level with other employment discrimination legislation. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act affords protection against discrimination based on many aspects, including race, disability, sex, and age. However, before a new kind of characteristic can become protected under federal civil rights law, it must be associated in some form with an already protected characteristic under anti-discrimination law. For example, someone who is grossly obese and believes they have suffered employment discrimination as a result will have a good chance of winning a lawsuit based on discrimination if the obesity is due to some kind of disability or medical condition. However, if the obesity is not related to some already protected characteristics, chances are the courts would not view it as discriminati...
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...on against race “If an employment practice which operates to exclude blacks cannot be shown to be related to job performance, the practice is prohibited” (Shaping 3). Thus, all forms of looks discrimination should be afforded employment discrimination protection that have nothing to do with job performance. The burden will be on the employer to prove those rejected due to physical appearance have a direct bearing on job performance (i.e., someone who is 150 pounds overweight does not appeal to consumers of a diet program, or someone with bad acne does not perform well at a cosmetics counter). Therefore, looks discrimination protection should be afforded under Title VII employment discrimination law.
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1. Finn, Lisa. "Female Discrimination in the Workplace." Editorial. Global Post-America's World News Site. N.p., 2005. Web. 17 Mar. 2014. .
Women are told that in order to get anywhere in life they must constantly worry about their outer appearance. In Jennifer Weiner’s article, “When Can Women Stop Trying to Look Perfect?” she delves deeply into how today’s society women’s worth is based on how they look. Weiner believes that women who do not meet the standards of beauty do not have as many opportunities.
Currently television networks and stations require a set appearance and weight standards for news reporters, newscasters, weather forecaster. Our society looks at the news and weather to see not only the news and weather but the persons. They believe that physical attractiveness and pleasing body image have long been known to have marketplace advantages. Therefore many organizations set appearance standards for their employees, because they think that will project a particular image and as well as a favorable working environment. (Harvey & Allard , 2012, p. 231)
Hosoda, M., Stone-Romero, E. F., & Coats, G. “The effects of physical attractiveness on job-related outcomes: A meta-analysis of experimental studies”. Personnel Psychology, 56 (2003): 431-462.
In the realm of work the appearance of someone’s body has a significant impact on their success according to Lorber and Yancey. In the text it was emphasized how height is idealized in the work world because it shows authority and being superior to peers and competition. Weight, height, race and jaw shape all are characteristics that have been observed to play a particular role in decision-making for leaders, e.g. the men with looks far from ideal had rarely moved up in military status in comparison to those with more idealized looks (253).
Discrimination, positive or negative, is an action toward people based solely on their group membership. People can discriminate against a person based on the person’s gender, race, nationality or look. Someone might not hire a Hispanic person, because of his nationality even if he is qualified, which is negative discrimination. However, when someone receives preferential treatment, for example, someone hires an Asian, believing that they are better at math than others, could be positive discrimination. In the case of Debra Lafave, she received a lighter sentence, no jail time, only probation and house arrest, because of her looks. Her lawyer believed that because she was blond and pretty, she would be in danger if sent to a women’s penitentiary. This is positive discrimination, receiving a lighter sentence due to her looks, while other women, who commit similar crimes but are not as pretty, do not receive such special
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In a growing world, relying on education and intelligence, judgments in a social environment are still continuously based off of appearance. A study of the importance of outer looks was produced through a TV game show. Contestants fought to answer questions correctly to improve their personal score. At the end of the game, the player with the highest score was asked to eliminate a team member. Although many times an unattractive player would have higher scores and could be more beneficial than another teammate, only 27% of unattractive members were chosen to advance to the next round (Belot, Bhaskar, and van de Ven 852-853). When society overlooks qualities and characteristics of high value for looks, discrimination conquers.
Sherman, Mitchell. “Equal Employment Opportunity: Legal Issues and Societal Consequences.” Public Personnel Management. Washington: March-April 2008. Print.
Discrimination against people due to their color has always been recognized in the workforce and has been dealt with accordingly by the law. It used to be the most well-known form of discrimination within the workforce. Today most companies have begun stating that they adhere to the law of equal employment opportunities for everyone, but them stating it is completely different to them actually practicing what they preach. For example, there is one ethnic group who companies have begun discriminating against since the attack of 911 on the twin towers. Muslims have been singled out as the bad guys by many, thus they have been treated as such. There was a case in which Ali Aboubaker, 56, was bullied and discriminated against at work due to his religion, race, and most importantly appearance. He kept a long beard that was long and unkempt, which resembled those worn by men from Afghanistan. The company seemed to forget that Ali had four college degrees and only seemed to pay attention to his physical demeanor. At times it was even noted that his coworkers called him a terrorist in front of his manager, and they were never reprimanded for it. Due to his appea...
In today’s job market, there are many reasons an individual could be turned down for employment. According to Deborah Rhodes, author of “Why looks are the last bastion of discrimination”, appearance should not be one of them. Rhodes is a law professor at Stanford and holder of numerous titles for her outstanding work in legal matters. She is also the author and co-author of over 250 articles (Directory). In this article, she addresses an issue with profound impact on today’s society. She proposes that appearance discrimination should be included in anti-discrimination laws in addition to what is already accepted and legalized in today’s workplace. While it is a seemingly “silly” concern, it is actually quite valid. There has been many a concern over discrimination. That is, discrimination based on race, color, gender, and others of a similar nature in the work environment.
Physical beauty is constructed by the society that we live in. We are socialized from a very young age to aspire to become what our culture deems ideal. Living in the United States, as in many other Western cultures, we are expected to be well-educated, maintain middle-class or upper-class status, be employed as well as maintain a physical standard of beauty. Although beauty is relative to each culture, it is obvious that we as Americans, especially women, are expected to be maintain a youthful appearance, wear cosmetics and fashionable clothes, but most importantly: not to be overweight. Our society is socially constructed to expect certain physical features to be the norm, anything outside this is considered deviant. Obesity is defined as outside the norms of our culture's aesthetic norms (Gros). “People who do not match idealized or normative expectations of the body are subjected to stigmatization” (Heckert 32). Obesity is a physical deviance; it is one that is an overwhelming problem in our society as we are always judged daily, by our appearance. Those who do not conform to the standards of beauty, especially when it comes to weight, are stigmatized and suffer at the hands of a society that labels them as deviants.
Discrimination is a feasible method of making decisions in life based on the group, class, or category to which a person belongs to. “In an ideal world, people would be equal in rights, opportunities, and responsibilities, despite their race or gender. In the world we live in, however, we constantly face all kinds of neglect based on different attributes.” When one hears the word discrimination, the first thought that comes to mind is racial discrimination. In fact, it does not solely have to be racial discrimination. There are many forms of discrimination such as age, disability, transgender, and sex discrimination. This paper will focus on discrimination based on gender, race and age in the workplaces.
Many job seekers will face employment discrimination or perhaps to be treated differently because of their skin color, age, or religion. Although it is illegal to discriminate in hiring and firing, however, one of the mo...