affirmative action programs for the homely

[metalman]

How to fix this problem depends on what kind of problem, exactly, you think it is. A number of scholars see it as fundamentally a civil-rights issue, with the unattractive a class of people who are provably and consistently discriminated against. It’s an idea that seems poised to resonate beyond the academy: A 2004 survey conducted by an economist and a legal scholar found more people reporting that they’d been discriminated against based on their looks than on their ethnicity.

 

[redrumloa]

1) Don't shower
2) don't exercise
3) wear flea market soiled clothes
4) profit!

 

[FluffyMcDeath]

1) Don't shower
2) don't exercise
3) wear flea market soiled clothes
4) profit!

Doing those things won't make a beautiful person homely, just unkempt and ill attired - and conversely all those things won't transform a homely person into a beautiful person.
As well as skin colour and beauty, height is another natural bias. Tall men get more promotions and make better money on average compared to equally skilled persons of a shorter stature.

 

[redrumloa]

Doing those things won't make a beautiful person homely, just unkempt and ill attired - and conversely all those things won't transform a homely person into a beautiful person.
As well as skin colour and beauty, height is another natural bias. Tall men get more promotions and make better money on average compared to equally skilled persons of a shorter stature.

Not really, unkempt = homely IMO. The link is about homely people, not disfigured people.

 

[metalman]

4) profit!

 

[FluffyMcDeath]

Not really, unkempt = homely IMO. The link is about homely people, not disfigured people.

Homely, as I understood it, referred to plain or unattractive people. Really attractive people can be unkempt and still be attractive. Some women get whistled at no matter how hard they try to dress down. Some can't get a whistle no matter how hard they dress up. There are some beautiful bushmen and some ugly guys in suits.

Thing is, you are more likely to find the beautiful people in the nice clothes and nice cars and nice houses because beautiful people get the good money. The ugly people are more likely to have lousy jobs, lose their jobs and end up destitute - but the kempt/unkempt isn't the issue - it's that unattractive people are less likely to be able to afford good clothes and good grooming. This is generally true baring mental illness - which goes a long way towards neutralizing the effects of beauty - but not all the way : look at Hollywood.

Beauty and salary research goes back a few years.

Of course, there is the real confounding issue that beauty has been a desirable quality for a long time and it is desirable for good reasons. Good genes tend to cluster and those who were able to gain the most resources in society by smarts or skills, etc, were usually able to also gain the most attractive mates. It's not a slam dunk though. Sometimes you get an ugly genius, sometimes you get a bombshell that a mental dud. It's just that if you're hot and dumb people are more willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.