"What is Beautiful is Good"

I definitely agree with the fact that looks have a huge impact on whether or not one gets hired (I do not agree that more attractive people are better at their jobs). However, I have heard from people I know who hire people and they say that they only will hire people who are attractive, particularly women. Interestingly enough it also was a restaurant. They said that if the girl was not pretty that they would not get the job. I think this is wrong, but this is how our society works. Not that that is an excuse, because you may be getting a more attractive person but they could be terrible at their job.

This is an excellent observation. I was recently in another part of the country and saw several billboards advertising a similar chain of restaurants (I’m not sure if it’s the same restaurant you mentioned). The attractiveness of the waitresses is a marketing point for this particular restaurant chain. This raises a challenging conflict in our society. While the restaurant owners understandably want to bring in more customers to their restaurants and make more profits, I also think it is unfair that otherwise qualified waitresses who do not meet the restaurant’s standards of attractiveness might be discriminated against in the hiring process.

In the work place, the fact of apperance is really important to some degree. We can see it from a lot of requirements of the job application ads that the employers are looking for the employees who have a good-looking face and a good figure. I think it is important, too. Because when we are working, we are definately more willing to work with the people who looks good. It can make us feel more comfortable and enjoyble. Besides, in some jobs such as services occupations, companies need beautiful faces to attract clients and leave them with good impressions.

I agree this observation seems to be very true. I feel that restaurants have more of a correlation to hiring attractive people than other work places. Like me, I worked at a movie theater and this definitely was not the case. Not trying to be mean saying that everyone I worked with was ugly, but everyone definitely wasn't attractive. The next couple times I go to a restaurant this will be in mind.

I agree that this definitely says a lot about our society. It makes no sense to me why this correlation between good looks and happiness exists. From what I have heard, seen, and read more attractive people are actually less happy than most people would suspect. They're just better at hiding their unhappiness because that's what people have always expected of them. Restaurants shouldn't hire employees based on looks because those are the people that are typically happier. They should hire people based on who would be good for the company and for business. Those would be happier people, but not necessarily the most attractive. As long as they're keeping business, why does it matter if one individual person thinks they're not as attractive as another applicant. If business is succeeding, just accept it and get on with business.

I agree that peoples looks get them further, for example, (not saying that everyone wants to work at hooters) but Hooters simply hires skinny but thick females, and of course fairly pretty in the face. The message at a restaurant like that is basically saying "nobody wants to be served by someone who is ugly"

Interestingly, Hooters was sued by the EEOC not too long ago for only hiring women. They got out of it partially by arguing that their real business is providing "vicarious sexual recreation", one of the most amusing legal phrases I've ever heard.

That...is...amazing.

This is exactly what I said to myself when I saw this at a restaurant too. Their is probably a stereotype that goes around that people want to be served by a good looking person. That kind of stereotyping could lead to some people not having jobs just because they aren't pretty enough or handsome enough for the job. Hiring people based on looks is exactly like hiring people with a high IQ.

Great post, and GREAT topic. Having worked in a restaurant as a hostess for three years, I can attest to the way attractiveness affects one's tip performance among the servers I worked with throughout the years. Not only did the servers gratitude and attentiveness affect their tip amount at the end of the night, but so did their physical appearance. Often times, the more attractive servers would far out-do the other servers in tips earned on the shift. Why is this? So many people try to say they do not judge people on their physical attractiveness, however this appears untrue when looking at the real-life situations I have experienced. So basically, not only do looks apply to whether or not someone gets hired, but also to how much money they take home in tips at the end of the night.

That is a really interesting observation that you had. What you are referring to is called the Halo effect. People have been found to see attractive people as possessing better qualities than they actually have. It is a real effect, and you are right, it does say a lot about our society.

I agree with what you said in the blog so much. In China, the observation is more often to be seen. More beautiful the person, she will have higher rate of getting the job or getting the chance. Also because of the praise words said by others, more beautiful people will have higher self-esteem. That are all the social pheromones, which what the society is showing and performing.

I also could not agree more with this blog post. I find that many times, certain food establishments, or even stores of any kind will employ those who seem more attractive to people. The sense is that the more attractive the people who work somewhere are, the more attractive that store or business will be to the rest of the population. I always see the Red Bull car drive around, that always have decently attractive women serving Red Bull to anyone. I'm sure some of the people who get the Red Bull don't even like it! But at least they got to be close to a cute girl that day!

I think restaurant service is more representative of this bias than any other industry. Probably retail as well. I've had the fortunate luck to have worked in both retail and food service. In industries where social interactions are short and sweet, and snap judgments are necessary, it's not surprising that appearances become important. People don't have much to judge you off of in their 60 second encounters ordering food from you, or buying a shirt. Especially in retail, you are selling appearances- so the better you look the more trust they will have in your opinion and your brand. Also, working in a restaurant, (and I know this is sad) I get far better tips when I wear make up and earrings to work. And I may contribute further to the problem by wearing more make up and earrings to work than I sometimes even would on a date.... but I'm paying for an education so....sorry