Does Appearance Matter Research

In "What Meets the Eye," by Daniel Akst, the author argues that looks in fact do matter, and he evaluates the fact that we all know that looks matter, even more than we think. He mentions that we try to deny that looks do not matter, but on the inside, we do know that looks matter and according to him, looks are very important.

According to Deborah Rhode in her essay “Why Looks Are the Last Bastion of Discrimination”looks and discrimination are based on physical appearance. This includes height, weight, body shape, disfigurement,skin conditions, scars, and even birthmarks. Rhode’s ideas do apply to discrimination, because nearly thirty percent of women reported experiencing discrimination in 2013.

In modern times, more and more people think that they are not beautiful enough. They try to make some changes to their appearance. For some people, because they want to look like their favorite celebrity or idol, they change their appearance. Some girls might think their face shape, such as nose, eyes, and mouth, are not as perfect as they want. Moreover, owing to the development of technology, people can choose to do more activities to become beautiful; also, they may spend money to do so.

As I was reading The Beauty Bias, by Deborah L. Rhodes, I came across a statistic that perplexed me, saying the total “annual global investment in grooming” comes to $115 billion (Rhodes, pg. 32). This shocking fact provokes a worrisome question: Why do we, humans, spend so much time, money, and thought on our appearance? As a complex question, there are several equally complex answers. However, the simple answer is that everyone else invests their time and thought into your outer shell, eliciting effort from you to improve what they study - your external image. The concern placed on one’s fashion choice or natural features by society takes away from larger, more pressing issues such as the declining economy, or feeding third-world countries.

There is a phrase,” Don’t judge a book by its cover”, that has been taught over and over. It conveys that individuals should not pass judgment on others based on their looks but rather to look past their external appearance. The sad truth is that everyone does judge books by their covers; it is the first thing a person does. To put it another way, appearances influence how one is perceived and there are countless ways to prove this. One example would be in the book Lord of The Flies by William Golding. The author uses Piggy’s character and symbolism to demonstrate how his appearance impacts how his intelligence is perceived.

Lucy Grealy captures her life story in moving and honest memoir, Autobiography of a Face. Lucy shares parts of her life most would not disclose, especially to the public. Not many of us can relate to parts of her life and childhood, as she was diagnosed with terminal cancer at the age of nine. Not only did she have to battle cancer at such a young age, but it also left her with a deformity in her jaw. In Autobiography of a Face, Lucy shares with us her life adversities, both physically and emotionally, and how she undertakes these challenges in recognizing and perceiving herself to be.

As mentioned before, our conception of beauty is heavily influenced by movies. Our idea of beauty is, no

No matter where people are in this world, they will constantly be judged by those around them, whether this might be looks or intelligence. Even though discrimination against appearance might not seem like a big deal, the impact of this prejudice is the equivalence of discrimination against racism: it reinforces stereotypes and can lower one’s self-esteem. In the article Why Looks Are the Last Bastion of Discrimination, the author argues that fitting a certain description of attractiveness is a form of bigotry society accepts; because of this, stricter anti-discrimination laws could play a modest role in advancing healthier and more inclusive ideas of attractiveness. Thus, due to the negative impacts of discrimination against appearance, there

“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.

There is more to a person than just their appearance. Society has made people so focused on judging other people’s look, they forget to focus on the more important aspects of the person. Fukuyama states, “ What the demand for equality of recognition implies is that when we strip all of a person’s contingent and accidental characteristics away, there remains some essential human quality

Many individuals risk their lives in order to change their appearance. By changing their image they can either gain confidence or lower their

Americans have grown to try and look their best no matter what and this all stems from the way people view body image. Today someone could have anything they want done to change their appearance. “We are a culture of beauty junkies, addicts continually looking for our next fix to keep us looking young and pretty” (Masterson). Masterson believes that people are addicted to beauty and it is almost like a drug. This is not far from the truth. People go overboard to look as good as they possibly can with things like plastic surgery, botox, and even simple things like makeup. With the obsession with beauty as bad as it is today one seems to never be satisfied with how they look. “But that uplifting message--I'm OK the way I am--is overshadowed by the dark view readers are left with of a society obsessed with looks that isn't showing signs of stopping” (Masteron). The idea of someone being ok with their appearance gets quickly changed when they look around and see the world and the obsession it has. This is a huge reason body image is so bad in America now, because as soon as someone feels comfortable with their looks the standard changes. America’s obsession with looks is one of the biggest factors in the negative change towards body

Together, we can lower the numbers of people dying from eating disorders and cosmetic surgeries by resisting the beauty ideal. We can choose “to not participate in the beauty rituals, to not support the industries that produce both images and products, and to create other definitions of beauty” (WVFV, pg. 232). The most crucial and easiest solution is to create other definitions of beauty. Ultimately, it is up to the individual to decide what is beautiful. What if someone decided that the only thing that could contribute to one’s beauty is who someone is on the inside? Wouldn’t our world be a completely different place? Instead of

Personal Looks: As humans we are visual creatures and highly value looks and personal looks in specific. Though it is acceptable to value how we look there is a darker side of the issues of personal looks. Many individuals both male and female are not satisfied with their looks leading into some disturbing

Do you have one thing you would like to change about your appearance? I would guess the answer is yes. People nowadays, especially women, are consumed with their appearance. Many strive to conform to what society views as the ‘perfect body image’ and this can make people extremely insecure about the way they look. They think that cosmetic surgery will solve this — it doesn’t. In fact, cosmetic surgery only enhances the need to look beautiful and can lead to many consequences including addiction, mental illness and even death.