Why being hot really sucks

If you think being attractive makes life one big picnic-think again. Good looking people too are judged, stereotyped.

Kiran Farooque November 13, 2010
Are good looks a blessing or a curse? Studies have shown that good looking people succeed faster professionally - if two people have the exact same experience and qualifications, everything but different looks (average looking vs beautiful) - more often than not, the better looking one is selected.

In all professional recruitment training, we are taught to dress formally and professionally for interviews. Appearance matters, looks matter even more. Good looking people succeed faster. Better looking girls are always sought after for marriage. Everywhere, there seems to be a certain bias in favour of good looks.

The eye of the beholder

It all comes down to the age old question - what is beauty? Is beauty absolute or relative? I saw a show on Discovery channel once where scientists figured out scientifically and mathematically what makes a beautiful person. It had something to do with relative proportions from ear to nose, eye to forehead, jawline to lips and dimensions of each at the same time.

Forget the mathematics of it all! More or less, we tend to agree on who is pretty and who isn't (with some exceptions). But then again - is such beauty really a blessing or a curse?

Things aren't so pretty for the pretty people

When a good looking person is passed above someone who is ugly, they may end up wondering if  they really deserved the position or got it solely on the superficial basis of good looks. Sometimes, one wonders how the world around them would be had they been born with different looks.

Let's talk about a first hand example rather than what ifs. I know someone personally who is quite good looking - people keep complimenting her on her looks, everyone she meets tells her how gorgeous she looks. She thirsts for a compliment about her humour or her intellect. As a matter of fact, she has never had good luck with men. Recently, someone she was very interested in told her, "I am afraid I am attracted to you more physically than anything else." It was in a way voicing what she had feared her entire life - do people flock around her because she is an interesting, charming, funny person or do they just want to be associated with someone good looking?

Beautiful people have hearts too

Sadly, such a superficial factor counts for a lot in our society. Pretty people are given several privileges. I've seen pretty people being able to cut into lines, get their own way, and being given preference over others. But at the end of the day, are pretty people merely that? Just pretty shiny faces? Do we ever personally really regard them as beings?

Pick any simple looking person off the street and ask them about pretty people - usually they'll answer with contempt saying pretty people always get what they want and it's not fair. But really, this secret contempt we hold inside of us of beauty - is it overrated, or is it just a fear of the unknown?

Perhaps it's time we stepped into their shoes for a while and feel what they feel. Is everything they have achieved in their life solely dependent on their looks? Are all the relationships they treasure just a façade revolving around their good looks?
WRITTEN BY:
Kiran Farooque A PR consultant in London who aspires to be a fashionista and a food critic.
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (58)

Jason | 12 years ago | Reply Nice Try - Not everyone see it the same way you do Anyways keep it up
CancerX | 12 years ago | Reply I agree with the writer,being pretty does have alot of advantages,sometimes i do wonder if people i would have had them if i wasn't.All the tiny things mentioned in the article,do happen. But one thing i think i do lack is at a good relationship.Getting attention is fine,people flock around me but no one stays.
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