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Beauty is in the Eye of the Employer

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By Patsy Campos

In the workplace, racism and sexism are discriminatory offenses that can result in time-consuming lawsuits that draw an employer much unwanted media attention.  Women often fall victim to discriminatory behavior that may include being passed up for promotions or not receiving equal pay for the same work that men do. One such case involves the largest sex discrimination case in America between Walmart and several female employees. But another form of discrimination that often gets unnoticed in the workplace is “lookism.”

“Lookism” is discrimination or prejudice of others based on physical appearance.  A recent article in USA Today reports on the effects of lookism in the workplace and describes cases where women have felt discriminated against because of their appearance. One case involved a woman who was denied a Jazzercise franchise because she did not appear “fit.”  In another case, a woman was fired from her job as a casino bartender because she did comply with company policy that required her to wear make-up.  The women in these cases felt discriminated and took action against the companies they worked for. Although the issues were resolved, neither of the employers fully admitted to any discrimination. It is often difficult to prove that employers are discriminating based on looks and technically this form of discrimination does not fall under protected class; therefore, private employers are well within their rights to create vague policy based on appearance. But that doesn’t make it right, and often, employee appearance standards have some underlying racism or illegal discrimination to them.

What lookism does in the workplace is create an environment of the have’s and have not’s. According to the article, a recent analysis found that workers with below-average looks tend to earn significantly less (about 9% less) than above-average-looking employees.  Another study found that an increase in a woman’s body mass results in a decrease in her family income and her job prestige. These studies show that employees with the “right looks” get the bigger paychecks, the better jobs, and more respect. If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then at some companies, the beholder also controls how far a woman can go and how much she can earn.

Women already have much going against them in the workplace. Sexism and racism still make it difficult for them to crack that glass ceiling. Lookism just adds another barrier as women try to achieve full equity on the job.