Why the Beauty Privilege is Completely Bogus

We’ve all heard of it before; “attractive people make more money”, “hot chicks get more dates”, “beautiful people get treated better”, “beautiful people have it easier in life”. It’s yet another overused pseudo-scientific notion propagated by society, media, and social media alike in this appearance-obsessed world. Type “beauty privilege” and you will get tens and thousands of online articles that (supposedly) backs this up by “so-called” studies, stats, and science. As humans, we love to correlate what we think and perceive to be objectively accurate, no matter how illogical and baseless they actually are. It’s no wonder that we are quick to conflate attractiveness / beauty = smarter, healthier, nicer, richer, more confident, more popular, more sociable, more athletic etc etc… generally, have a leg up in every aspect of life – even though correlating beauty (a purely physical trait) to these mostly-earned-traits has absolutely no logic!

So today I’m going to do just that – dispel the notion of “Beauty Privilege” and to prove that why it is nothing more than a lame – and highly exaggerated - social construct; meaning a popular idea or perception that exists only because society WANTS you to believe it! (and not because it is objectively true)

Let’s look at few most common myths about the beauty / attractive / pretty privilege: (these three words are used interchangeably in this article)

1. Attractive people make more friends.

2. Attractive people get more dates.

3. Attractive people make more money.

1. Attractive people make more friends – I’ve heard this one before, and quite frankly, it’s a rather odd one. Why? Because people generally don’t vet friends based on looks. By this, I mean basic, platonic friends – ya know, straight-up buddies. Friends are just that – friends; not dates, romantic endeavors, or significant others. Perhaps the implication is that attractive people tend to have a wider social network. But even then, a person’s physical attractiveness ( or lack thereof) has little influence on how socially successful they are. When it comes to making friends, factors such as personality, aura, and how you vibe with others - will have a much, much stronger influence over posh physical appearance. And since one can have as many friends or acquaintances as they wish, we tend to be less judgmental on looks, as opposed to say, looking for dates or significant others.

Which leads to the next point…

2. Attractive people get more dates – this one is HIGHLY debatable. Ok, I know it’s incredibly easy to believe – almost instinctively – that if you’re hot-looking, then you must get a lot of dates, right? But here’s why I hesitate to jump in agreement – in order to date someone, there has to be a certain level of interest, meaning one has to be drawn to that person. Just being attractive will not spark an interest, especially if he or she is not your type. Case point: take the perennial hot chick Megan Fox. I’m willing to bet 99 percent of guys (and most human population) find her objectively attractive. However, not all guys will date her. Why? Because she ain’t everyone’s cup of tea. I repeat, she ain’t every guy’s type! After all, there are whopping 7 billion people on earth, each with vastly varying degrees of “type”. While it’s easy for all 7 billion to somewhat agree who looks attractive and who doesn’t, it’s completely far-fetched to presume that everyone desires the same attractive / pretty people. So to automatically equate attractive = more dates is rather hasty in my opinion, because everyone has vastly different tastes, preferences, and types! Essentially, finding someone attractive and wanting to date them are not the same thing! (not to mention, you can’t force attraction, no matter how conventional pretty a person may be!)

Now for the most bogus myth of all…

3. Attractive people make more money – ok whoever came up with this one was aiming for the pseudoscience-award-of-the-year. This absurd statement is also in line with “attractive people get more jobs” or “attractive people get more promotions”. Seriously? Are employers so frivolous and idiotic enough to vet applicants based on their posh physical looks? I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine any sane or reputable employer in real life would have such a 3rd grade judgement when it comes to something important as hiring or paying decisions! (if there’s a hiring manager who actually does this, then he/she should be fired!) And what jobs are we talking about here? Modeling? Billboard ads? OK, I guess these are the kind that tend to award attractive people, but for 99 percent of jobs – meaning conventional jobs – I guarantee that beauty / attractiveness has absolutely NO bearing on getting hired. Let me say this a million times – beauty has NO tangible benefits. It doesn’t earn you more money, it doesn’t get you more jobs, it doesn’t get you a nicer house or a nicer car, and it certainly doesn’t resolve any financial problems, no matter how much society tries to program us that it does!

Ok now that I dispelled all three myths, I can still hear the throngs of dissuaders trying to refute me; “But Zoey, I still disagree! Beautiful people DO have it easier in life! They get away more with traffic violations! They get more attention in helpless situations! And how about missing or kidnapped women? If you’re attractive, you get more media coverage!”

Yea yea… I heard them all. To that, I say… who the hell WANTS to be pulled over for a traffic violation? Who the hell WANTS to be in a helpless situation - be it stranded in the middle of nowhere, have a heart attack in public, or beg for money on the streets? Who the hell WANTS to go missing or get kidnapped? These are undesirable situations that we actively try to avoid. Are we supposed to be envious of beautiful people because they “supposedly” have a leg-up in these situations?? In that case, if you want to find out whether your looks are working towards your favor, then you better hope that something really bad happens to you!!

Bottom line: stop putting beauty on a pedestal. It is nothing more than posh physical attribute that’s not even EARNED. Rather, it is a trait passed down from your genes by pure happenstance. So why is it so highly valued in society like a badge of honor?. I’d say it’s time to stop propagating the myth that “beautiful people have it easier in life”. Not only is it logically flawed, but it’s a bunch of exaggerated nonsense designed to (undeservingly) inflate the value of a few people while make everyone else feel bad about themselves. I’ll say again – beauty has absolutely NO practicality – it doesn’t put food on the table, it doesn’t pay the bills, it doesn’t get you hired, it doesn’t make smart decisions, and it certainly doesn’t solve world problems! Being smart, rich, extroverted, communicating like a pro, and having good judgment will likely garner an ‘easy life’, not something as insipid and impractical as beauty. So let’s stop spreading this nonsense that is the ‘Beauty Privilege’ and acknowledge it as nothing more than posh physical appearance, shall we?