Soccer Gods must be handsome. Sportswriter Tom Dart has just shown us that lookism can despoil the male world as well as the female world. He used to cover World Cups for The Times of London, where he was a soccer writer for over a decade. However, since moving to Texas he has covered U.S. sports for outlets including The Guardian and SI.com. Here's his Mar 2, 2015 story in its entirety. It's from his soccer gods blog: Real Madrid accused of looks-ism by Barcelona … [Read more...]
Can lookism infect a “veiled” society?
Journalist Farahnaz Zahidi , a sub-editor at The Express Tribune in Karachi, has asserted that lookism is an issue in Pakistan. I suggested in my last blog that —contrary to some assertions—few people in Pakistan would be familiar enough with female faces for lookism to be a problem in that country. (Unfairly, lookism swirls primarily around female faces, tho male faces—and bodies of both genders—come into play sometimes.) To make my case, I stated that there were plenty of Muslims in … [Read more...]
Fairest of ’em all? Is lookism also a problem in Islam?
Pakistan has the second largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia. Islam is the official religion of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.This means many women cover their faces partly or fully in public. Lookism in Pakistan? In light of these figures, a lot of women probably wear veils in Pakistan. Thus, it's amazing that lookism is a problem in this Islamic country, just as it is in the West. While I've not delved into all the whys and wherefores of "veiling" women's faces, I do … [Read more...]
Lookism: Plus-Sized, bi-racial women photoshopped ’round the world.
Make me beautiful. Last year in June, a freelance journalist asked artists from 19 countries around the world to photoshop her face with instructions to make me “beautiful.” The hope was that in altering her face, the artists and/or designers involved in the project would (subconsciously?) access their personal and cultural constructs of beauty. The results of the "Before-After" effort went viral, and the journalist was written up in Time and the Chicago Tribue and appeared on CNN and … [Read more...]
A challenge for cleft lip kids: symmetry.
I return again to the topic of facial symmetry which we've dealt with here, here, and here, to cite only recent blog posts. Cleft lip kids face challenge when dating. To show why symmetry bedevils cleft lip kids, esp as they get to dating age, I've borrowed the findings cited in a recent Wiki article about physical attractiveness. (Actually , the pertinent info is from the entry entitled Symmetry in the "Facial Attractiveness" subsection. ) I've modified the wiki article footnotes which … [Read more...]
Celebrities honor heroes at the Oscars. Lookism rears its head again.
Following up on the Self-Absorption of Oscar Celebrities One explanation of why today's celebs seem so self-obsessed (the conclusion in my prior blog) may be that society has empowered them thru celebrity-worship and a double-standard re consequences for their selfie-ness (pun intended) and frequent misbehavior. We know that power corrupts. When fans, judges, and the media give second, third, and umpteen chances to celebs who act selfishly, abuse drugs, or commit crimes, we're further … [Read more...]
Does Appearance Matter? Who are You Looking at?
Does our appearance determine our life chances? A young woman who was born with a visible difference tells you what it's like in the above video, entitled "The Visible Difference." Born with a cleft lip and palate, Alexandria Barker is a psychology student in Britain. Corrective surgeries and a loving family have made her “visible difference” no longer a problem for her, but she knows that not all are as lucky as her. Many people with a visible difference have trouble in the work … [Read more...]