Why is it OK to be mean to the ugly?

Society abhors discrimination on the basis of many traits. And yet one of the major forms of discrimination is ‘lookism’, prejudice against the unattractive, which sparks little outrage.

David Brooks
A society that celebrates beauty obsessively will be a social context in which the less beautiful will be slighted, and the answer is to shift the norms and practices. A positive example comes from Victoria’s Secret replacing its “Angels” with women of more diverse body types, putting itself on the cutting edge of the fight against lookism. PHOTO: REUTERS
Updated
Jun 28, 2021, 05:14 AM
Published
Jun 28, 2021, 05:00 AM
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(NYTIMES) A manager sits behind a table and decides he's going to fire a woman because he doesn't like her skin. If he fires her because her skin is brown, we call that racism and there is legal recourse.

If he fires her because her skin is female, we call that sexism and there is legal recourse.

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MCI (P) 066/10/2023. Published by SPH Media Limited, Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. Copyright © 2024 SPH Media Limited. All rights reserved.

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