Bullies got more than they bargained for when Alex Libby, one of the students in the 2001 "Bully" documentary, flowered and began to thrive in a new school. Tho Alex still has the flattened nose and Asperger's that triggered much of his earlier bullying, he's a confident happy kid these days.Columnist Tony Leys of the Des Moines Register wrote this follow-up story on Alex recently. Here it is in its entirety: Bullies find unintended consequences of their acts. Alex Libby, who was featured in … [Read more...]
Best looking candidates win? Lookism research says yes.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Sept 17 that science suggests why certain politicians win election to the highest offices in the land. Might this come into play in the GOP primaries here in the US? 'You betcha,' to use one of the fave expressions of Sarah Palin, a veteran of a recent campaign for VP (along with Senator John McCain for POTUS).Lookism research findings apply to America as well as Australia.A former beauty queen, Palin watched as lookism reared its ugly head recently when … [Read more...]
King Tut cont’d. Plus, was (step) mom Nefertiti photoshopped?
A little backstory before we address the question raised in the last blog (why King Tut was born with a cleft and a clubfoot?) and the question of photoshopping Nefertiti, playing fast and loose with her looks. I Luxored out and got to see Tut's Treasures.I liked King Tut before I learned he shared a cleft and other birth defects with me. I guess it was all that gold leaf associated with his funeral mask, and buried art treasures found in his tomb. Can't remember why I missed Tut's first visit … [Read more...]
Angelina Jolie and most of us have this facial symmetry defect.
New York University plastic surgery prof Sherrell Aston says Angelina Jolie, Tom Cruise, Lucy Liu—and even Barack Obama—have something in common, besides being famous and in the news regularly. They have “slightly asymmetrical chins,” he says, a trait they they share with almost every other person in the world. The finding holds regardless of age, sex, ethnicity or race. You and Angelina Jolie Probably Have This in Common. Dr. Aston has conducted thousands of pre-op facial exams in his … [Read more...]
We’re all guilty of lookism regarding severe disfigurements.
Psychologist Irvin Rock perceptively wrote in 1974: "Even photos of familiar faces -- famous people like Franklin D Roosevelt, for instance -- will look unsettling when flipped upside down. Just as, if you tip a square enough it stops being a square and starts becoming a diamond, so rotating a face makes it seem less like a face. The mind can't make immediate sense of the inverted features, and reacts with alarm. A bigger change, such as taking away the nose, transforms the face severely enough … [Read more...]
Apps that let you enhance your selfies———lookism gone wild?
Have lookism apps gone too far, even in a selfie world? As if selfies aren't enough of an indulgence, we now have apps that let narcissists enhance their selfies from head to toe. An "instaglam" app, called Bright eyes: clean up your image with Perfect365 ModiFace, is a powerhouse in the virtual makeover world. The app developers* are responsible for an app which lets people try on make up and another which allows one to "virtually" whiten ones teeth (Virtual Dentist). The Perfect365 … [Read more...]
Shocking before/after celeb photos. Lookism or what?
Lindsay Lohan, George Clooney, Gwen Stefani, Britney Spears, Kourtney Kardasian, Kate Moss, Rachel McAdams, Kim Catrall. Celebrity Photos Before and After Photoshop. What do you make of the photoshopping in these pictures, offered online recently? Shocking? Ho hum? Just more evidence that sexist males control the media? And what affects you most? The blatant sexism? The agism on display where photo editors removed crows' feet, smile lines, and other signs of age and/or personality? … [Read more...]