Role of Appearance in the Hiring Process

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Looks and appearance have always dominated Hollywood culture and the actors and actresses that play roles in movies; also the popularity contest among teens in high-school. Bulimia and anorexia plague women and men throughout the United States. Today’s society is dominated by the obsession of appearances. But how far has this fixation gone? Has this Hollywood mentality taken over the otherwise standard way of running a business and the process of hiring one’s employees in a way not determined by weight? For a country becoming one of the fattest countries in the world and a country based on equal opportunities for all, the collision of these two topics is inevitable.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate is at 9.8% as of November 2010. This high unemployment rate creates a high demand for jobs. This high demand allows for employers to become selective in whom they hire. Michigan is the only state which has issued a state law prohibiting discrimination of hiring based on weight. The question is will other states follow suit. Cities such as San Francisco have also issued weight discrimination laws prohibiting unfairness to those who are overweight. But a national implication has not yet taken place. Scholars today, take the side of changing “unfair” treatment and exposing weight discrimination as a problem that bothers society today.

Rebecca Puhl, PhD, is the Director of Research and Weight Stigma Initiatives at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University. Her article “Public Opinion about Laws to Prohibit Weight Discrimination in the United States” addresses discrimination of overweight people comparing it as equal to rates of discrimination of race. Puhl starts off the article ...

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...tion justifies the need for legal action to protect overweight people. History has demonstrated the power of legislation to reduce institutionalized bias against stigmatized groups.” Just as a book cannot be judged by its cover, people cannot be judged by their physical appearance.

Works Cited

"Michigan Law Opened Door to Hooters Lawsuits." The Grand Rapids Press 6 July 2010. Web. 9 Dec. 2010.

O'Brien, Michael. "Ugly People Need Not Apply?." hre online. N.p., 5 Aug. 2010. Web. 9 Dec. 2010.

Pomeranz, Jennifer L. "A Historical Analysis of Public Health, the Law, and Stigmatized Social Groups: The Need for Both Obesity and Weight Bias Legislation." Obesity: a research journal. N.p., 5 Feb. 2008. Web. 9 Dec. 2010.

Puhl, Rebecca M. "Public Opinion About Laws to Prohibit Weight Discrimination in the United States." . N.p., 27 May 2010. ERIC. Web. 9 Dec. 2010.

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