Perceived Splendor
There is an old saying that “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” While this is still true our idea of what is attractive is also influenced by television, magazines, and even newspapers. Today more than ever, retailers are using this perceived beauty to their advantage, hiring people because of the way they look. In “Going for the Look, but Risking Discrimination.” Steven Greenhouse attempts to show us how hiring based on appearance can inadvertently lead to discrimination, which is the unwarranted treatment of one group differently than another. While I agree with Greenhouse he does a better job of arguing for the opposing side by using information from Senior Industry Analysist Marshal Cohen, who argues that these practices are productive and alright, which I beleive to be wrong. Hiring based on atractive qualities is not new but it has been brought about as an issue of discrimination. Companies, mostnoteably Abercrombie & Fitch, have even been hiring those who portray their brand. In the case of Abercrombie it is limited to tall, blonde haired, blue eyed Cuacasian Americans who apear "preppy", which is described by the media as the "classic American look". While offering employment based on apearances is old, the current generation of retailers are taking it to discriminatory levels. this impermissible marketing strategy is pervasive in almost every clothing store and we are constantly bombarded with advertisements that use sex appeal to sell their products. Employers are constantly using overly atractive people in their advertisements, even the extras look good. This whole perception of everyone looking great when in reality only a handfull of people really are is impacting how people view themslves. Lets take a look at a television ad for Wal-mart: the opening sequence has a good looking greater welcoming us and in the background we see, guess what, atractive shoppers, not one of them overwheight or ugly. How does this effect the viewer? After a lifetime of exposure to similar commercials I began to think of myself as an "uggly Duckling". While I still do not think too highly of my epearance I now realize that a majority of it was media intervention. Other possible affects would be when a waitress who has worked
LoonyLongbottom · Fri Oct 09, 2009 @ 04:38pm · 0 Comments |