The last politically acceptable group to hate!

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Hate 'em while they're [not] hot!! !! !

There are laws to protect women, ethnic and religious minorities and gays, but discrimination against the ugly is still completely acceptable.

In this 2005 article from Forbes (click), Dan Seligman asserts that ugly people are stupid and prone to criminal behavior and therefore personnel managers who discriminate on the basis of looks are justified.

If these claims were aimed at blacks, gays, or Muslims, Forbes would fire Mr. Seligman like a rocket!! !

So, what do you think? Is this fair? Are ugly people inherently defective?

Do the ugly deserve our hatred and abuse while other groups are protected?

Seems to me that it is "politically acceptable" in the US to hate white Southerners and at a minimum treat with disdain Italian-Americans. The former get tagged with stereotype after stereotype, the latter, are of course somehow associated with the Mafia, every single one of 'em.

(And I say this as someone who is a member of neither group.)

'Course the largest lynching in US history was carried out by White Southerners against Italians, so go figure. The New Orleans "Mafia" Trial: 1891 (link) Not a story that gets much play, of course. Confuses the narrative that only African-Americans got lynched, that this occurred because of their skin color and so on. The fact that Italian-Americans might actually deserve some sympathy, needless to say, only adds to the need to sweep this one under the rug.

And a similar issue has been noted with relation to height:

Short Guys Finish Last (Link)

Seems like homo sapiens sapiens is almost hard-wired to discriminate against the short, at least short males.

I'd add fat people to the list......... I agree with white folks and short folks.

You can also hate Asians too and go against them, especially if you are a dean of admissions.

It sure feels that way.

:/

I gather the point is that "ugly" people are more apt to be rejected by employers, and when people can't find work, they're more likely to engage in criminal activities (gotta eat somehow).

While that seems reasonable, I have to wonder what the implications are and whether or not there is more to this.

Firstly, I agree with Alice's point. If ugly people are subject to social pressure against them, then it is more probable that their rejection by society will lead to negative activity.

Secondly, from what I understand, there is a correlation between things such as attractiveness and IQ. Even though correlation doesn't mean "All ugly people are incompetent", if there is a negative correlation between ugliness and a good quality then I think it is justifiable to state that ugly people are more X, when X is the opposite of that good quality.

when i was 38 women used to follow me home. quite a statement but i possessed beautiful legs (bicycle racer) and nicely proportioned upper body (marathoner and free climber). i was not george clooney but had a normal face. too bad i had a. s. or i could have scored with lots of attractive ladies.

years later after being run over by a drunk driver and after that fate being in a multi-rollover really high speed car crash i now am gimpy, twisted and burned. ugly. whipped with an ugly stick. repulsive.

a complete reversal of 38 year old self. normal humans are 'afraid' of me. just because of injuries and burns.

it's terrible to be ugly. the only human i have contact with says she's concerned about who sees me with her. she's in a business where perception is important so i understand. it's hard, but i understand.

you really can't understand the prejudice till you experience it. 38 year old me would not have believed humans could be so cruel.

It's paradoxical. If a group can't get jobs, they may have to steal to eat.

Just a query, is that a correlation between attractiveness in a physical sense, or did IQ make the person more attractive?



No, not at all.

I believe it was in a physical sense. There is also a correlation between height and IQ as well.

Yep, I'd say you guys have your sociological thinking caps strapped on pretty tight!

This conclusion would suggest that ugly folk should enjoy the protection of antidiscrimination laws.



It is true that some studies suggest a connection between attractiveness and intelligence as well as height and intelligence. However, I don’t believe this to be sufficient to justify discriminatory hiring practices either.

There are also studies that suggest a connection between race and intelligence, but society deems it unacceptable, even criminal, to draw conclusions about individuals based on general characteristics attributed to their race.

In the end, it seems to me that Mr. Seligman and Forbes are wrong, and their article is a poorly reasoned attempt to justify an unjust prejudice.

I find it interesting that, in an age of hate-crime laws and hypersensitivity they can get away with such things….

I guess it comes down to the fact that nobody calls people on this sort of discrimination because very few people are honest enough to self identify as ugly…


...still, it is a bit sad and despicable.

I'm of mixed Irish-Italian ethnicity, and I have heard a lot more racist jokes against the Irish than I have against the Italians. Italian-Americans may have had more trouble in the past, but now no one can really tell us apart from the rest of the country, and the whole "mafia" stereotype doesn't seem as ingrained into people's minds as the whole "Irish are alcoholics with too many babies" stereotype is.


Well, height does correlate positively with IQ and other desirable traits. It's useful in sexual selection as a generic marker of fitness, because weak, malnourished, or sick men will often be short.

Not necessarily. There are a few issues:
1) It may actually be economically efficient to discriminate against ugly folks. For instance, given that "ugliness" unlike racial discrimination is unlikely to fade, it may be that ugly folks actually have a quality about them that reduces their value as employees, even if it is not directly related to their work.
2) It is difficult to identify who is ugly and who is not and to prove discrimination on the basis of ugliness. This kind of discrimination may not be overt. Even further, "ugly" is just difficult to objectively assess. We can construct relatively easy racial categories, and most disabilities exist in one's medical record already, the same is not true for ugliness.


I never said anything about discriminatory hiring practices in this instance. I simply stated that it is justifiable to regard ugly people as more likely to have negative qualities.

Even further, I don't know what really is sufficient. Statistical discrimination is not only common, but pervasive. We might deem some qualities off-limits, but employers can only indirectly determine who is a good worker.