Hajra is back with her weekend post! I always enjoy the topics Hajra dreams up and the wonderful discussions they and she inspire. Are you ready for this? Take it away Hajra!

Recently, I met a seven year old who is obsessed with makeup and dressing well. When asked what she wants to become when she grows up, she says “Beautiful, very beautiful”.

Sadly, we can’t blame her. We live in a world that constantly places too much significance on “face value”, on how pretty we are or how beautiful we should be. Look around you – advertisements, music industry, movies, television, even the Facebook profile picture everybody has – everywhere looking pretty and beautiful is emphasized.

But the question that forms a bigger issue is that do people who are considered “beautiful” have it easy than the rest? Do smart, attractive people have better chances at success?

Often, we have been asked the question – imagine you are about to recruit a person and you have two candidates, both equally qualified and experienced, having the same skills and fulfill the requirement criteria. One is way more attractive than the other. Who would you be more likely to hire?

Now this possible situation can have many answers – depends on what we think we would do and what we would actually do. Sometimes we do judge people based on looks.

Once we see a pretty actress on screen, we praise her. But if she dresses up a little out of place, has the “wrong” makeup on, has had a bad scar on her face, is caught on camera not looking her pretty self, we criticize her, slam her for being out-of-place and have numerous hurtful things to say.

So, do pretty people have it easy? Or do people who constantly maintain their looks have it better than the rest? Do looks matter when we “judge” people? Are we nice to people who please the eyes?

photo credit: Leslee Mitchell