Seat back and take a deep breath, as we will dive into the ugly truth of pretty privilege, which is also used in an internet term coined to highlight the advantages of adhering to society's beauty norms. In a world where we are constantly told what products to buy, what clothes are the most flattering, and what foods not to eat, it becomes clear that we are expected to be nothing less than beautiful. Beauty is subjective; however, it presents itself in varying ways through societal beauty standards. These beauty standards are fluctuating ideals with extremely narrow criteria, ensuring that only a few can actually attain them.
Pretty privilege, often known as lookism, is a form of discrimination. According to a 2009 research in the Journal of Industrial Relations, this pretty privilege is described as bias or discrimination based on a person's appearance and happens in a broad range of situations, including dating and social environments, as well as workplaces. People who achieve these criteria frequently benefit from social perks and preferential treatment from those who find them appealing. These undeserved perks were coined by psychologists as ‘beauty premiums’. Therefore, we will overview how pretty privilege is considered an asset by researchers, how people perceive it, and some ways to overcome the issue in society.
To begin with, the evolution of privilege may equate to receiving better marks. Based on a study conducted by Hernández & Peters (2017), it is tested whether or not physical attractiveness plays a role in unobserved productivity by comparing attractiveness to grades in college courses. As a result, the study found that appearances mattered, as attractive female students earned higher grades than unattractive ones. Besides, being viewed as having pretty privilege might boost one’s performance as a better worker. The Halo Effect implies that we subconsciously believe people’s appearances represent their whole personalities (Nisbett & Wilson, 1977). Hence, it explains why attractive people frequently benefit from this bias from a young age, which results in greater confidence as adults. In most cases, employers regard attractive individuals as better employees. Mobius and Rosenblat (2006) investigated the influence of attractiveness on the recruiting process and based on the study, employers viewing photographs of potential employees were inclined to higher salaries by nearly 10.5% for most attractive people.
Additionally, pretty privilege might lead to romantic success. While other aspects such as personality are certain to impact who we find attractive, the significance of physical appearance in the realms of dating and romance cannot be overlooked. According to a study conducted by Chapman University (2015), the result showed that 84% of female participants and 92% of male participants reported ‘good-looking’ as one of the essential qualities for making a long-term partner. Essentially, attractive people are given better chances for romantic success due to others' evaluations of particular favourable attributes. Perhaps, social skills may also be the strongest indicator of long-term success.
Continuing on, the psychological influence of upward comparisons indicates that comparing ourselves to individuals we believe are better than us may be immensely detrimental to our mental health. As a result, the number of privileges we grant to attractive people may cause those who are left out anxiously compare themselves to others behind (Li, 2019). Other unpleasant emotions that might result from upward comparisons include humiliation, inferiority, and depression. With so many social comparison possibilities available today via social media platforms, it is critical to learn how to mitigate these harmful consequences. Subsequently, most people usually define the ‘good-looking’ term as having a symmetrical face, big eyes and plump lips. It happens to fit what society considers to be a good-looking face and may imply strong and healthy genes. For instance, looking at how Korea perceive their beauty standards as having a small v-shaped face, double eyelids, symmetrical eyebrows, fair skin, and a slim body. Overall, these features are seen as having an ideal appearance that ultimately makes people who do not possess these features decide to undergo plastic surgery.
Moreover, the trademark of ‘beauty is pain’ is a real thing. During Queen Elizabeth's (I) era, a pale white complexion was the hallmark feature of Queen Elizabeth's beauty standards. Queen Elizabeth’s (I) cosmetics embodied the 16th-century female ideal, with her pale skin reflecting nobility and earthly perfection. To attain such perfection, Queen Elizabeth smeared lead on her face, progressively poisoning her body. The queen didn't only use harmful cosmetics; she also smeared mercury on her lips and most likely used a mercury-based makeup remover that ate away at her skin. Queen Elizabeth (I) was held to much higher standards as a female monarch than her male counterparts. While battling Mary, Queen of Scots for her crown, Queen Elizabeth remarked that royalty couldn't allow a single stain or imperfection to appear. As she aged, the queen used more and more lead cosmetics, reputedly wearing mascara and lipstick an inch thick in her dying days, before she eventually died in 1603. This shows that since ancient times, people began to label beauty standards, and such behaviour will slowly destroy them without even realising it.
The pretty privilege may be something that is ingrained in our society. The major approach to fighting these privileges at this cultural level is to untrain our bias toward physically attractive people. Monteith & Parker (2017) discovered that counter-stereotyping dramatically reduced implicit prejudice and when individuals were aware of their own biases, they felt driven to self-regulate. Hence, unlearning our prejudices not only makes us feel more aware of ourselves but also leads to happiness. Research has shown that 40% of our happiness comes from how we experience recent life events. Failure in any sphere of life may cause people to doubt themselves, lowering their self-esteem and confidence. Besides, feeling at ease in our own skin is also an important step in combating the impacts of attractive privilege and upward comparisons. Stevens and Griffiths (2020) have shown that the recent emergence of the body positivity movement increases female confidence and improves their mental well-being.
All in all, attractive people are perceived to be brighter, funnier, smarter, sociable and successful. This gives them an edge in terms of career, establishing friends and simply being treated with basic human decency. However, this privilege may be hazardous if not controlled. The notion that an entire group of individuals might be treated unfairly just because they do not look a specific way is highly damaging to a person's self-esteem and self-worth. Therefore, everyone deserves to be loved, respected, and treated with care because it would be unfair that anyone would be treated differently than someone more attractive.
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