People always say first impressions are lasting impressions. However, these first impressions are rarely conversations, but, in fact, looks. For instance, if a director is casting for their new heroine role and is in a rush, they will likely pick the most beautiful one in their eyes rather than give them lines and an interview. This is also seen when, according to a study by Mobius & Rosenblatt in 2006, showed that employers viewing photographs of potential employees were inclined to increase salaries by nearly 10.5% to attractive people.
Additionally, for many professions that should require skill, beauty is prioritized. For example, in dancing, one should have the skill to dance to the high level required, but instead looks are prioritized as to look “appealing” for the audience. Also, news anchors need skills like speaking, mic position, camera presence, and many others. However, this all is sacrificed for one thing, looks. So if people have the skills for the job, why do they get turned down? The answer is pretty privilege.
Pretty privilege, or lookism, is “Prejudice or discrimination on the grounds of a person's appearance.” Basically, preferring a person because they “look good”. While this may sound unrealistic at first glance, studies, like the one mentioned earlier do exist. These show us the state of people and their stances on people. You could call it objectifying, but I’d rather call it “looks-crimination”. This can lead to skilled people losing a job they are maybe overqualified for to someone with minimal qualifications but fits the employer’s “looks-prejudice”.
In my opinion, pretty privilege has existed for a long, long time, and that is the primary reason that make-up and plastic surgery has emerged, to compensate for “bad looks”. People want to dye their hair black, to fit in with the “beautiful young person” mould. Even in companies, for the longest time, they appealed to stereotypes. In India, a country with a majority of people with darker skin, Unilever put out a facial cream, “Fair and Lovely”, that claimed to, effectively, make a person whiter to appeal to traditional beauty standards of “white lady is beautiful lady”, or “white man is handsome man”. Isn’t this trying to play to thoughts of getting pretty privilege?
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