The Beauty Bias : The Injustice Of Appearance In Life And Law


Cover of the book The Beauty Bias : The Injustice Of Appearance In Life And Law by Deborah L. Rhode, Oxford University Press, USA
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Deborah L. Rhode ISBN: 9780195372878
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA Publication: May 6, 2010
Imprint: Oxford University Press, USA Language: English
Author: Deborah L. Rhode
ISBN: 9780195372878
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Publication: May 6, 2010
Imprint: Oxford University Press, USA
Language: English
It hurts to be beautiful" has been a cliche for centuries. What has been far less appreciated is how much it hurts not to be beautiful. The Beauty Bias explores our cultural preoccupation with attractiveness, the costs it imposes, and the responses it demands. Beauty may be only skin deep, but the damages associated with its absence go much deeper. Unattractive individuals are less likely to be hired and promoted, and are assumed less likely to have desirable traits, such as goodness, kindness, and honesty. Three quarters of women consider appearance important to their self image and over a third rank it as the most important factor. Although appearance can be a significant source of pleasure, its price can also be excessive, not only in time and money, but also in physical and psychological health. Our annual global investment in appearance totals close to 200 billion. Many individuals experience stigma, discrimination, and related difficulties, such as eating disorders, depression, and risky dieting and cosmetic procedures. Women bear a vastly disproportionate share of these costs, in part because they face standards more exacting than those for men, and pay greater penalties for falling short. The Beauty Bias explores the social, biological, market, and media forces that have contributed to appearance-related problems, as well as feminism's difficulties in confronting them. The book also reviews why it matters. Appearance-related bias infringes fundamental rights, compromises merit principles, reinforces debilitating stereotypes, and compounds the disadvantages of race, class, and gender. Yet only one state and a half dozen localities explicitly prohibit such discrimination. The Beauty Bias provides the first systematic survey of how appearance laws work in practice, and a compelling argument for extending their reach. The book offers case histories of invidious discrimination and a plausible legal and political strategy for addressing them. Our prejudices run deep, but we can do far more to promote realistic and healthy images of attractiveness, and to reduce the price of their pursuit.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
It hurts to be beautiful" has been a cliche for centuries. What has been far less appreciated is how much it hurts not to be beautiful. The Beauty Bias explores our cultural preoccupation with attractiveness, the costs it imposes, and the responses it demands. Beauty may be only skin deep, but the damages associated with its absence go much deeper. Unattractive individuals are less likely to be hired and promoted, and are assumed less likely to have desirable traits, such as goodness, kindness, and honesty. Three quarters of women consider appearance important to their self image and over a third rank it as the most important factor. Although appearance can be a significant source of pleasure, its price can also be excessive, not only in time and money, but also in physical and psychological health. Our annual global investment in appearance totals close to 200 billion. Many individuals experience stigma, discrimination, and related difficulties, such as eating disorders, depression, and risky dieting and cosmetic procedures. Women bear a vastly disproportionate share of these costs, in part because they face standards more exacting than those for men, and pay greater penalties for falling short. The Beauty Bias explores the social, biological, market, and media forces that have contributed to appearance-related problems, as well as feminism's difficulties in confronting them. The book also reviews why it matters. Appearance-related bias infringes fundamental rights, compromises merit principles, reinforces debilitating stereotypes, and compounds the disadvantages of race, class, and gender. Yet only one state and a half dozen localities explicitly prohibit such discrimination. The Beauty Bias provides the first systematic survey of how appearance laws work in practice, and a compelling argument for extending their reach. The book offers case histories of invidious discrimination and a plausible legal and political strategy for addressing them. Our prejudices run deep, but we can do far more to promote realistic and healthy images of attractiveness, and to reduce the price of their pursuit.

More books from Oxford University Press, USA

Cover of the book Saint Augustine of Hippo: An Intellectual Biography by Deborah L. Rhode
Cover of the book Writing Alone and with Others by Deborah L. Rhode
Cover of the book The Nelson Touch : The Life and Legend of Horatio Nelson by Deborah L. Rhode
Cover of the book Tiny Terror:Why Truman Capote (Almost) Wrote Answered Prayers by Deborah L. Rhode
Cover of the book Late Life Jazz: The Life and Career of Rosemary Clooney by Deborah L. Rhode
Cover of the book Planet Narnia : The Seven Heavens In The Imagination Of C. S. Lewis by Deborah L. Rhode
Cover of the book The Cyprus Problem : What Everyone Needs to Know by Deborah L. Rhode
Cover of the book Africa's World War : Congo, The Rwandan Genocide, And The Making Of A Continental Catastrophe by Deborah L. Rhode
Cover of the book Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines : Or Seven Books of Wisdom of the Great Path According to the Late Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup's English Rendering by Deborah L. Rhode
Cover of the book Hitler's Army : Soldiers Nazis and War in the Third Reich by Deborah L. Rhode
Cover of the book Buzz to Brilliance:A Beginning and Intermediate Guide to Trumpet Playing by Deborah L. Rhode
Cover of the book The Making of Buddhist Modernism by Deborah L. Rhode
Cover of the book The Caucasus:An Introduction by Deborah L. Rhode
Cover of the book Oxford American Handbook Of Emergency Medicine by Deborah L. Rhode
Cover of the book Consciousness and the Social Brain by Deborah L. Rhode
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy