Lookism?

Why is it always ‘Beautiful Princess’, ‘handsome Prince’, ‘Ugly witch?’ Why is goodlooks related to pleasant things and bad looks related to evil and unpleasant things? Isnt beauty supposed to be more than just skin deep? Isn’t it charectar and personality that determines the worth of a person? Or is it the size zero figure, deep blue eyes, long eyelashes and a perfect 5’8 inches frame?

It is said that good looking people are more confident than people who do not look that great. We fought against racial discrimination for some many years. The modern twenty first century discrimination that has been spreading across the globe is ‘’appearance discrimination’’. To say that this is a twenty first century phenomenon may also not be absolutely right, because looks have played an importance role since a very long time. We read in the old Jane Austen and Margaret Mitchells books, how women were expected to be beautiful and slender.
What about people with average looks? What about people who are fat or ugly? Do they not deserve a good suitor?

‘Lookism’ seems to be more prominent in todays world. Even though most of us may not be familiar with the term, we are all very much a part of it. Lookism is a term used to give preferential treatment to goodlooking people. A study shows that goodlooking people are related to positive things and looks to a great extend influences the way a person judges another person. For example why do we say ‘’A murder of crows’’ and ‘’Exaltation of doves?’’. Accept it or not, we all do judge things the way they look.

'A Witty woman is a treausre;A witty beauty is a power''-George Meredith

I am not saying that beauty is bad. It obviously adds to persons personality, but it is not the only thing. Whatever happened to intelligence, sense of humor and wit? Since the time we were small we played with beautiful Barbie dolls and wanted to be like them. I remember fighting with my sister for the ‘’prettiest doll’’. And we dreamt of growing up and being pretty. In school plays and dances, the prettiest girl got to perform in the centre of the stage. We have seen and accepted this discrimination. Studies have also shown that Attractive people have a better social life and many friends. Little children with craniofacial anomalies like cleft palate face confidence issues.

Movies like ‘Shrek’, seems to give out much more than just entertainment. It shows how each one of us have a fairytale life, How appearance can be deceptive and how in the long run, it is the kind of people we are that matter.

We need to learn that that Beauty lies within. We cannot choose how we look, but we can definitely choose the kind of person we can become. Afterall like the famous saying goes, ‘Beauty gets attention, but personality gets the heart’.