“Looks” deserve a peek
Man, you’re lookin’ sharp today.
You’ve got your confidence-building power suit on, color-coordinating accessories, spiffy shoes, and tasteful jewelry to top it off. Your teeth shine and you don’t have a hair out of place. You’ve got it going on. Too bad you can’t do anything about your weight, height, nose, hairline, bustline, skin condition, or facial symmetry. All those affect what someone thinks about you within seconds of meeting you. In the new book, “Looks: Why They Matter More Than You Ever Imagined” by Gordon L. Patzer, PhD (c.2008, Amacom, $23.00, 282 pages, includes notes and index), you’ll see how your appearance affects your career and your life.
Remember how Mom always said you can’t judge a book by its cover? Mom might’ve been right, but that’s not how it works in real life. Turns out, nature has stacked the deck in favor of women who are stacked and men who stack up to a biological mindset in human females.
Patzer calls this PA, and we’re aware of it in ourselves when we look in the mirror, in others when we meet, even in our closest family members. He says we’re hard-wired for it, and that beauty bias is reinforced throughout childhood. There’s a reason, for instance, that fairy tale princesses are lovely and evil witches are not.
Okay, so what about your job? In a world where “Equal Opportunity Employment” is legally mandatory, looks don’t mean a thing, right?
Wrong.
Patzer says your PA determines not only what job you get, but whether or not you get it, how fat your paycheck is, where you do your job, and how long you get to keep it. Youth, he says, is key in business. That gorgeous head of silver hair you’ve been cultivating might be a liability in the boardroom and in the courtroom, if you ever find yourself before a judge and jury.
So what can you do to combat “lookism”? Patzer says you can start by finishing this book. If employers, teachers, parents, and you are aware of a possible looks bias, perhaps there’s hope we can all learn to look beyond it.
Unfortunately, that’s where this book ends. Author Gordon L. Patzer offers up several chapters of information, including some intriguing statistics and volunteer studies about lookism in the workplace, school, courts, and philanthropic endeavors but he doesn’t offer much in the way of changing one’s propensity toward bias, other than to be hyper-aware of it.
Conversely, and even though it was at times confusing, I was fascinated by the hard data that Patzer includes in this book. He shows very clearly that beauty is both an abundant blessing and a terrible curse; a comforting lesson for most of us Average Joes and Joannas.
If you ever asked the Prom Queen out (and were rebuffed), if you dreamed of dating a movie star (and never will), or if you’re in charge of deciding between eye candy and experience for that job opening, you need to read this important book and be aware. For you, “Looks” deserves a definite peek.