My youngest sis said this to me just 2 days ago, “You got so many pimples, nobody will love you.”
Right.. I was quite amused actually. What a bold statement coming from a 9 year old kid whom has probably seen the society through the television set. Yet, its really quite true to a certain extent actually. With massive advertisements going on about being slim (Slimming Ads), having a perfect face (Extreme Makeover), or just having that glossiest lip that is so kiss worthy.. its no wonder that the concept of outer beauty shadows that of having a beautiful soul and personality.
Frankly, I do get a kick out of watching Extreme Makeover. Watching the so-called ugly duckling turning into a swan, seeing them getting all emotional because the ‘right’ attention they have always wanted to get will be coming their way. Watching them getting the boost of confidence they have always wanted. Watching them being so happy. Watching their relatives going, “OH MY GOSH!”
There’s nothing wrong with dolling oneself up; to look presentable, to look good. Who does not want to look good? I do. What a boost of self esteem it will be! But is that all that matters? What struck me was that whenever the person who went through the makeover comes out, and the relatives and friends are interviewed, this line always pops out. “She was so beautiful to begin with, both INSIDE and outside.”
Here’s an article to look through.
Business Basics Good Looks, Good Pay? Scott Reeves, 05.05.05, 6:00 AM ET
"Beauty and the Beast" is the fable of a young woman who frees her prince from the body of a beast with love.
But a similar tale--call it "Beauty and the Labor Market"--finds pay differentials based on looks and doesn't have a happy ending for just plain folks.
Two university researchers say the penalty for plainness is 5% to 10% lower pay in all occupations, or slightly larger than the premium for good looks.
Daniel S. Hamermesh, an economist at the University of Texas, Austin, and Jeff Biddle, an economist at Michigan State University, held demographic and job types constant and concluded that looks are a key element in earning power.
"Better-looking people sort into occupations where beauty is likely to be more productive," the researchers conclude. "But the impact of individuals' looks on their earnings is mostly independent of occupation."
Rule of thumb for all of us who aren't fashion plates: Play to your strengths.
"I suggest that you rely on characteristics that make you productive," Hamermesh says from his office in Texas. "If you're smart, rely on brain power; if you're strong, rely on muscle; and if you're personable, rely on your personality."
The researchers controlled for variables such as experience and education. Surprisingly, looks are more important for men than women. In the mid-1990s when the study was completed, the ugly penalty for men holding full-time jobs totaled about $2,600 in reduced pay per year, and the pretty-boy premium came to about $1,400. For women, the penalty for bad looks was $2,000, and the premium for good looks was $1,100 per year.
Unattractive women are less likely than their average or good-looking counterparts to hold jobs and are more likely to be married to men with what the researchers call "unexpectedly low human capital."
That's a polite way of saying little talent, drive or prospect of success. We like to think the meritocracy is immune to high cheekbones, button schnozzes and a good head of hair, but the researchers found that looks count even in law, a competitive, performance-based field.
In another research project, Hamermesh and Biddle reviewed the earning power of law students graduating from the same law school from 1971 to 1978 and 1981 to 1988. A panel of four people reviewed pictures of each law student, including one person younger than 35 and at least one older than 35 from each sex. The law students were ranked on a scale of one to five, with five as the best looks score. The four ratings were averaged to create a student's overall rank on the looker scale. There was no objective standard for determining good looks, but participants knew it when they saw it.
The researchers found that, five years after graduation, males who ranked one notch above average earned about 10% more than fellow students who ranked one notch below average. Fifteen years after graduation, the premium for good looks grew to 12%. The researchers say the pay differential held for lawyers working in both the private and public sectors.
In a another study, the researchers found that spending great gobs of money on makeup, haircuts and fancy duds does little to improve the perception of people with so-so looks and doesn't increase their earning power. Other researchers, using pictures of the same people as children and in middle age, found that people with a mug that could wreck a freight train in their youth didn't become better looking over the years.
However, it may be that customers prefer to work with people who are easy on the eyes. If higher earning power comes from customer taste--not employer discrimination--that would appear to undercut the premise of much employment discrimination law. "
Other researchers found that young obese women earn 17% less than women within the recommended Body Mass Index range. But women who gained a significant amount of weight during the 1981 to 1988 study period earned only slightly less than women within the average weight range.
Some research has found that there's a premium for height, and that taller men generally earn higher pay than their average or short counterparts, including men in top management positions such as that of chief executive officer.
But even if you look like a toad, the key to your low pay and diminished prospects could be that you act like a toad.
In a research paper for the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, researchers Kristie M. Engermann and Michael T. Owyang said, "Certain characteristics, such as appearance, might affect productivity in ways that are not as easily measured (or as obvious) as are other characteristics, like education or experience. Appearance, for example, can affect confidence and communication, thereby influencing productivity."
Height and weight might also influence productivity through health or self-esteem. Some researchers have theorized that height may increase the participation of high school students in social activities, giving them the opportunity to develop the interpersonal skills that boost productivity in the workplace. If so, it\'s not hard to see why such people are prized--and rewarded--by a range of companies such as General Motors, Wal-Mart or Wells Fargo.
Still, pay differentials could be the result of raw discrimination. Maybe employers and co-workers simply don't like being around fat, ugly people. But if fat, ugly people develop a bad attitude over time, discrimination apparently based on looks may not tell the full story.
So, remember your grandmother's wisdom: Beauty is only skin deep, but true ugliness cuts right to the bone.
Translation: A good attitude and hard work can do a lot to overcome that rutabaga nose, but nasty people are just foul.
On a lighter note, I had this conversation with my 2nd sister yesterday.
I was saying I wanted to watch Batman Begins.
Sis : Hey, You know why Batman became Batman right?
Me: (Being blur as usual) Huh? What? Why?
Sis: Aiyo.. He was scared of bats ma. So he wanted to overcome his fear of bats. That’s why he’s Batman.
Me: Erm.. Ok.. Then?
Sis: What if he was scared of cockroaches?
Together: Cockroach Man! WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Jokers. =P
