Lookism and crim justice go together like Thelma and Louise? Naw, more like beer and sausage during Ocktoberfest. (Crim justice, like legislation, is often made like sausage. Ouch!) In my prior blog I looked at the results a novice researcher, Kelly Beck, came up with several years ago. She used relatively sophisticated methodology, but her sampling was limited.Today, we see what professional researchers at Cornell University—using a national sample—found. And we see some of the practical … [Read more...]
Lookism and crim justice: Apprentice research.
I've got a blunt question for today's blog. Do unattractive (read 'ugly') criminals receive harsher sentences than attractive ones? This question interests me because I'm writing a book about murder and "blind" justice. Testing lookism and crim justice.A respectable study of this question by a novice researcher emerged several years ago. Kelly Beck researched this lookism and crim justice using sophisticated stepwise regression methodology.*For many years, researchers have attempted to find a … [Read more...]
Lookism: Dr. Oz’ age-reducing elixir?
We've all seen the lookism click-bait before and after shots, esp of celebrities. They try to get us to buy anti-aging products. One that's been getting a lot of attention lately is Parisian Glow cream that claims to have Dr. Oz's endorsement. I've printed excerpts from a recent Parisian Glow ad below. However, if you read that ad carefully, it really suggests only that Dr. Oz recommends Vitamin C, and maybe he has. Whether he's endorsed Parisian Glow or any other anti-aging product is still … [Read more...]
Has Trump really caused an increase in bullying?
This article by an editor at Reason.Com appears to be a fair, "let's-wait-and-see" assessment of the causes of the recent spike in bullying. That's why I'm posting it here in its entirety.Most of us are amateur social scientists to the extent that we know the difference between randomly selected subjects in a study and self-selected ones. That's the problem here.The author of the article, Robby Soave is an editor at reason.com.Explaining the spike in bullying."The Southern Poverty Law Center … [Read more...]
Lookism & the Resting Bitch Face, II.
This website is dedicated to the face— esp the disfigured, asymmetric, heroic, villainous, or foolish face. This means that the site and my blog take on some pretty interesting topics. In my blog two weeks ago, I raised the issue of the resting bitch face (RBF) and joked about choosing between a witch or a bitch face mask for Halloween. That would've meant putting frown and anger marks on one's face. Or getting a mask of one of the celebrities who claim (or others claim) to "suffer" from … [Read more...]
Cleft lip news: bullying, ‘Wonder’ movie, Cher’s retreat.
This story by Sara Newman came to my attention recently. It provides useful info for families with cleft lip and palate kids. I've added the info about Cher and her facial differences camps."Anti-bullying messages are prevalent in today’s schools, but some kids still may not understand how mocking someone for their differences can have profound effects that last well beyond the school day.“It breaks my heart,” Michelle Aftimos of Pomfret, [Md] said of the bullying her son, Kyle, 8, has received … [Read more...]
Lookism & Halloween: witch or bitch face?
It is Halloween and the time that witch faces show up at parties and at neighborhood trick-or-treat outings. All sorts of other faces show up, too—esp some representing lookism gone wild (for example, sweet faces from Disney's studios and pretty ones from Hollywood's glamor factories).Among meme-loving sophisticates, moreover, there's now the chance to put on a "resting bitch face" mask as well as a witch mask. In the last couple of years, both the New York Times and the Washington Post have … [Read more...]