Informative Essay On Lookism

He mentions several key factors that support his argument that looks do matter; Socially, attractive people are more likely to get paid more on the job, and mothers tend to look for attractiveness in their children. The way someone looks tends to determine their social status, physical activity, and their fitness level. From 1939 to 1989, the importance of looks to both men and women increased along with the change in trends in fashion, magazines, and the media, and that these trends will continue to develop along with technological changes that are not likely to change anytime soon. The author then mentions obesity, and its effect on someone's look. In a study, people that weighed more pounds were estimated to be older than the thinner person. As society further develops, the way both men and women dress changed in terms of the level of formality. The clothes we wear to school/work, private/public, and formal/informal are the same because America has been getting more casual ever year. There is no longer a distinction in clothing between gender, class, and age. Shorts used to be meant for youth only, but now you see people of all age wearing

Although, beauty is longing for it is not always beneficial to the beholder. For instance, McIntosh explains how “these varieties are only what one would want for everyone in a just society, and others give license to be ignorant, oblivious, arrogant, and destructive” (31). Sadly, I can relate to her feelings many people do not see beyond my looks and I often find myself becoming part of a stereo type. Many people believe that because I am attractive I wont have to work to be successful. Others express how I will probably end up marrying a wealthy man who is older.

People are judged for their appearance all over the world, every day. People with brown, ragged clothes are assumed to be less intelligent, or homeless. People with long hair are assumed to be female. There are many stereotypes that limit the social actions of many people, and it is not just in real life. Rodman Philbrick shows that these stereotypes are not always true in the book “Freak The Mighty” in the form of Maxwell Cane, Kevin, Loretta, and Iggy Lee. All of those characters are misjudged by others, and in some cases, even by themselves. The message that your appearance does not determine who you are is very important, and applies to everyone everywhere.

We are living in a visual culture. Only now, unlike in the past, we have the ability to access all types of media at the drop of the hat, thus creating a need for instant gratification and a never-ending consumption. But, we have always been a visual society. How else do you explain racism, fat shaming, xenophobia, or other types of visual based prejudice? All of these involve making a “judgment” on how a person looks, or the perception of someone solely for how they appear. As Sam Anderson writes in his article, Letter of Recommendation: Looking Out the Window,

“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.

The strong impact of appearance on society gets its roots from Hollywood and media in general as it develops a society with the preoccupation with how one seems rather than how one truly is. On a literal level, Hollywood uses different lighting, angles, cameras and

Thesis: The media puts pressure on women of all ages to conform to their standards of what looks best, and this pressure results in women having a negative body image.

Studies prove that the media can have a negative impact on self-image. TV, movies, magazines and the internet all pressures what their bodies should look like. In the article, Too sexy too soon: A mother’s battle against the sexualization of girls by Tina Wolridge quoted, “One of the hardest responsibilities of being a parent to a 13-year-old girl is explaining the sexualized images of young women that are seen on TV and in skimpy clothing, magazines and sexy videos…I want my daughter to be valued for her mind, for what's on the inside and for being a good person. I want her to understand that you don't need to get your value from your looks alone (Wolridge, 2013).” It is sad that millions of teens believe the lies and resort to unhealthy measures to try to fit themselves into that impossible mold. They feel so much less because in their heads they see that’s what it takes to be noticed or worthy. Images they see are nothing, but air brushed ideas of what is the vision of perfection. The insecurity one holds buries the true beauty and worthiness that person actual holds. It is sad how the media can have a negative impact to make someone feel ugly and insecure about themselves. They all should be able to love their self for who they really are and how they present themselves no matter what anyone else says.

The “American Ideal” of “Looksism” is what society says we are supposed to look like, the “white Anglo-Saxon Protestant ideal” (Day & Schiele, 2013, p. 14). An example of this is the Barbie doll. She is tall, skinny, white, blonde hair and blue eyed. This is the doll that little girls grow up wanting to look like because society is teaching them that this is the ideal. Otherism is the use of “stereotypes to objectify those who are different from ‘us’” (Day & Schiele, 2013, p. 15). If someone does not fit the ideal they are considered not normal or bad. An example of this is objectifying a whole race; by saying the Mexicans are stealing White jobs. While this is untrue, the Mexican heritage is different from the white Anglo-Saxon ideals, so some see it as bad and are threatened by it, thus creating this racist stereotype.

Society follows a norm that requires a general agreement between groups in order to function as a whole. Human beings are social “group animals” (Lessing 1) and need each other to survive with the intention to get along or fit in. These desires to conform “influence our idea about ourselves” (Lessing 1) and people lose a sense of their inner self based on these insecurities. The false concept of ideal beauty of body image is displayed in the media and it pressures young women and men to accept this particular notion of beauty. The role of the media comes into play because it pressures individuals to give in, since they appeal to our need, which is to be accepted. Although, people oppose to media pressuring individuals to conform, it is clear

People in society are judging people for their looks. If someone judge them for their looks the

Basically, the media is doing nothing but using subliminal messages. The way they portray the models in magazines, it only confuses a human’s mind. This makes them believe that they must look like them to be considered beautiful. Often in magazines, when positive values, success, love, and happiness, a thin person is shown. This not only completely lowers a “healthy”, or a plus sized person’s self-esteem, but the media also tries to make it seem as if in order to be happy and successful, a person must be skinny (Piazza). Every day, companies come up with a new beauty product, or a new diet product to leer someone into buying it to make themselves beautiful. New products every day completely sets aside the idea that natural beauty is already beautiful enough. According to the media, though, people need these products to look more humane, or look younger and thinner. The media also using editing and

The article “Beauty and the Labor Market” by Daniel S. Hamermesh and Jeff E. Biddle examines the economics of discrimination in the labour market based on looks and the relationship that exists between beauty and labour market earnings. Analyzing, results from several studies, data from various empirical research and surveys; the article identifies the source of earnings differentials related to looks in six distinct and detailed sections.

When I was only a little girl, I had been told that true beauty came from within. Yet as I grew up, I noticed that looks mattered. From their attractiveness, race, age, or gender, anyone’s image was always up for scrutiny. Under those circumstances, I grew up thinking that if people were to judge me based on my appearance, that I should judge them the same way. Though, as I became older, I at some point learned that how a person looked wasn’t always in their range of control. A person simply isn’t born with the choice of picking what they look like, nor are they born with the choice of having a genetic disorder or disease. In that case, I believe that nobody should be defined purely based on what they look like.

People often judge or misperceive others appearances in a less than equal manner before they even know the true nature of the person. Every day we make assumptions by what we can see physically. Even in the supermarkets, we distinguish good products from bad products based on how they look. We are apt to choose good-looking products because they don’t have flaws, cracks, and bruises. Moreover, we assume them to have good qualities and good tastes. Actually, taste doesn’t deal with its looking. However, we bias in favor of assuming human nature. Since people judge human beings based on how they look, it is called prejudice. In fact, prejudice just disadvantage