There is a great unacknowledged movement of oppression in our culture. Our society’s focus on the visual appeal of people is harmful, unethical, and represents a little-discussed form of discrimination.
Various aspects of our culture perpetuate an obsession with beauty: clothing and makeup brands, the media and its celebrity culture. Ideals of beauty are crammed down our throats at every turn, and the struggle to match these ideals is exhausting, and often impossible.
The real hard truth is this: some people are born “ugly” by society’s standards. That word itself feels ugly, an insult, but it’s an empirical fact that many people don’t match the standard that has been chosen as “beauty.” That in itself is completely fine; the problem is when people are treated differently, discriminated against, because they are not seen as beautiful.
Is this simply something that must be accepted? Is the human obsession with finding beauty worth the suffering of so many people? It is not. Discrimination is discrimination, plain and simple.
Studies have shown that attractive people make more money and are more likely to be chosen for promotions. In a job interview, if two people have the same qualifications and are presenting as similar candidates, the one who is more attractive is more likely to be picked.
The actions of unattractive people are often seen as creepy, while the same actions performed by an attractive person may be considered suave and charming. Similarly, the actions of attractive villains in fiction are often forgiven and the characters written off as misunderstood while ugly villains are the incarnations of evil.
Yes, historically there is a trend in which ugliness is associated with—nay, equated to—treachery, while beauty is equated to good. The beautiful princess and the old hag, the angels and demons of the Bible: these ideas are drilled into us from such a young age. It’s not clear whether or not this issue will ever be publicly addressed, let alone solved. Efforts have been made, but to little avail.
Even the body-positivity movement can run astray; often it presents the idea that we should accept ourselves as we are and be okay with it, rather than realize that beauty itself is not important. Fictional characters are presented as larger-bodied to destigmatize weight yet are still presented as glamorous and traditionally beautiful. So rarely do we see a protagonist who is actually specifically not attractive, and, generally, when we do, being unattractive is half of their personality.
Discrimination by appearance is one of the few remaining “acceptable” prejudices, and there is not enough of a movement to change that. It’s unfair, debilitating, and villainizing. I can only hope that some miracle shall cure us of our affliction and allow us to look past the veil of pulchritude to judge by the true contents of our characters.