Borrowing excerpts from an interview done by Quora about nonsurgical transformation, I'm impressed with Lyndsey's honesty as well as lingering middle-school insecurity. Nonsurgical Transformation Taught Lyndsey about "Looksism." "I didn't technically start being bullied until my super awkward high school years where I all of a sudden found myself at 5'9" and 89 pounds. ... I was a late bloomer. Didn't really start looking like a model until after college. So it's been a rather … [Read more...]
Nonsurgical Transformation Taught Janelle about “Looks.”
Surgery often transforms people with oral facial defects from being being shunned to being accepted.In interviews conducted by Quora, this one by Janelle caught my eye because of her insights. Her proximity to where I live helped, too. She lives in a nearby city and milieu that I'm familiar with. Other interviewees in Quora's Q & A project live in parts of the world where I don't know high school socialization customs and standards of beauty as well. What does it feel like to go from … [Read more...]
Standing up to Looksism and Gay Bashing
Eleven-year-old Caine Smith was choked, beaten, harassed, and was called a long list of names simply because he had two moms and long hair. Instead of staying locked away and hiding, he stood up and did something about it. Thanks to my friend Sabine Hathaway for alerting me to this great Upworthy video. … [Read more...]
And still more Reverse Looksism?
Am I sensing a turnaround? Is the race beginning to go to the Plain Janes and Sorry Sams rather than the Perfect 10s? It would seem so judging from yet another media story about a 10, Alicia Silverstone, losing a role back in the 1990s because she was ‘too pretty’ for ‘My So-Called Life.’ According to The New Yorker, co-creators of the highly regarded TV series---that dared to deal with child abuse, homophobia, teenage alcoholism, homelessness, school violence, and drug use---argued over … [Read more...]
More Reverse Looksism. Fired for being ‘Too Hot.’
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention other situations where “Reverse Looksism” has reared its ugly head, pardon my pun. Besides the stories of Melissa Nelson and Katherine Jenkins which I related in prior blog posts, these have surfaced of late: According to the Irreverent Lawyer blog, bosses told Lauren Odes, 29, she was “too hot” and her figure too sexy for her job in New York City. Managers at Native Intimates---which is owned by Orthodox Jews---also told her to wear baggy clothes. They soon … [Read more...]
Sacked for Being too Attractive? Iowa and Islamicists Might’ve Changed History.
Michael Kimmel wrote a July 16, 2013 NYTimes piece regarding lookism where he pointed out that Melissa Nelson's recent legal case rests not on her beauty but on her employer's perception of her beauty. Her dentist boss felt she would injure him by tempting him into cheating on his wife if she remained in his employ. (Writer Timothy Beneke notes the "danger" beautiful women represent is reinforced in the terms people use to describe them—bombshell, knockout, stunning, femme fatale.) Kimmel … [Read more...]
Lance Armstrong, a Sociopath? Or a Psychopath on the order of O.J and maybe Oscar Pistorius?
Nothing new about a hero falling from grace and joining the ranks of the villainous or foolish. This site includes pictures of Babe Ruth, General Patton, and Charlie Chaplin who travelled this path in the eyes of many. The infractions of these three, besides a kind of un-American personal arrogance, included, respectively, abusing a wife, slapping a soldier, and engaging in controversial relationships and politics. What bothers many people about … [Read more...]