Beauty Premium

By Ranjan Yumnam *

A thing of beauty is a joy forever. What a truism, Mr Keats. Everyone wants to be good looking- and not merely good looking at that- but hot and perfect. Media has fuelled this natural desire to look gorgeous and feel good about oneself; now this has been taken to the extreme to the point of obsession. Welcome the new deity: Megan Fox, to name just one.

Thanks to the breakthroughs in cosmetic surgery, anyone can now aspire to acquire the chiseled features of Brazilian models, the pout of Angelina Jolie, the butt of Kylie Minoque and the bod of Scarlett Johanson. The compliments and the whispered admirations when someone with those body vitals walk down the street with an enigmatic smile to boot can only be imagined and envied vicariously. The boost to feelings of self-worth and the knowledge that people hanker to see you, albeit furtively, and admire you covertly is a state of mind worth dying for- or in many cases to go under the knife to enhance one's physical assets.

Alright, I am going a bit overboard but such an inflated enthusiasm for turning oneself into a beauty diva has not affected our society to that extent- as far as I can observe as a trend spotter. No matter how modern a Manipuri woman is, I can't hazard a guess that a plain Manipuri woman could suddenly appear one fine morning all balloony and stuffed at the right places and flaunt the transformation.

I, for one, wouldn't know where to look and cast my eyes down to my own toes if such an ultra progressive woman passes me by. Call me prude, our women are too modern for phanek and too conservative for G strings. At best we are voyeurs that lap up the fashion channels beamed via DTH and scoff at the bold exhibitionists on the street. The hypocrites in denial.

No enhancement of the silicon sort for us; nose jobs are ok, a little tinkering with the hair style here and there seems normal. The crossdressers (homos) are the boldest as one can be in Manipur with the liberty to adopt the zaniest sartorial standards - full pants down, so to say.

Why take all these troubles and walk the fine fashion balance on the life ramp. Beauty, it seems, begets economic success.

Here's the best kept secret: there is a beauty advantage in the world of work and social relationships. Studies have found out that pretty people earn more than their ugly counterparts. For men, being handsome means they will earn 5% more than the uncouth and disheveled ducklings. Gorgeous women on the other hand are more likely to get hired and promoted and be in the good books of their bosses. The league of the beautiful, irrespective of gender, is clearly enjoying an advantage over the ordinary looking people. This is called Beauty Premium.

Beauty premium has a downside: unattractive women get jealous and start backbiting, attributing the rise of the bold and beautiful as the function of their attractive physical endowments. Even when an attractive female worker has the talent and is qualified to climb the career ladder on her own steam, the barbs never stop targeting her. And my dear cute reader, this is called Beauty is Beastly effect.

Now, why do beautiful people have all the fun and laugh all the way to the bank? Human evolution is a queer thing: we are wired to prefer symmetrical features and curves as these are believed to be producing good offsprings. You think it is a mumbo-jumbo pop psychology? Serious hard core shrinks think otherwise. In a famous study, psychologist Alan Slater of Exeter University showed pictures rated by adults as being more or less attractive to new born babies and found that babies invariably stared longer at attractive faces. It is an instinctive behavior, just like baby crying for mother's milk just after birth. (We also stare longer at beautiful babies).

What helps the attractive people is the tendency of most people to blindly ascribe to them all the positive traits like intelligence, trustworthiness and ability. The "halo effect" as beauty researchers call it is a considerable advantage enjoyed by the studs of this world where opportunities and resources are scarce and we all have to compete for a small pie of it. Teachers, bosses and mentors favour them unfairly while the ugly Jassi has to, well, stand before the cracked mirror and console herself.

It's not always all rosy and pretty for the pretty people. Sometimes, beauty backfires. Hotties explode, burn peers' egos and ruin self. For women, beauty becomes a glass ceiling beyond which they hit a prejudicial roadblock. According to surveys, beautiful women are most preferred for the lower and middle level positions like personal secretary, clerks, receptionists, etc., but this advantage disappears when they compete for the historically male dominated positions at the management level.

Attractive women, as it turns out, suffer from the Bimbo effect, which is nothing but the popular perception that they are too feminine, less intelligent and therefore less competent for serious responsibilities. Though not true, it seems hard to believe for most people that a person as soft and vulnerable as Drew Barrymore or Katrina Kaif could shout and bark orders like a man. Either a woman has to act or behave like a man to be in the reckoning in the world of cutthroat competition often dominated by man or get sidelined. What's remarkable is that this perception is widely shared by the women themselves.

So, as you see, beauty bias works two ways much like a double edged sword. As much as it can benefit people, it can hurt them, especially if they are women.

Whatever it is, the craze to be handsome and sexy has never been more widespread as it is now. Everywhere we go and look, we are bombarded by images of celebrities, photoshopped and airbrushed. Forget about movie stars, the news anchor, the air hostess, your female boss, even the traffic police are all pretty and semi-starry like models in Victoria's Secret campaigns.

And the means and temptations to groom oneself to lofty beauty ideals are within easy reach than ever before. Facelifts, implants, anti-wrinkles miracles, home gyms, wonder diets and plastic surgeries are affordable, easy, painless and quick, and they are being resorted to by increasing number of people- to remedy or camouflage the physical flaws one is born with. This phenomenon is what I would call the "Revenge of the Ugly". The gap between the ugly and the attractive has narrowed and is even indistinguishable.

The Revenge of the Ugly phenomenon and the Beauty Premium have meant that in surveys after surveys, physical appearance is said to have been given undue importance in job interviews; one survey saying it is only next to experience and confidence but above consideration like which college the aspirant went to even when looks have nothing to with the job one is seeking.

If you ask me, I would say beauty is not one and all and its influence will work only initially for a good first impression. The long legs in that sexy skirt can only take one as far; real talent will ultimately be recognized and rewarded, no matter how often the seductress bats her eyelashes. Beauty is only a propeller, caliber is the real fuel.

My advice is be neat, tidy and trendy; don't try to be extremely and overtly sexy. Being sexy is dangerous as well; fashion accessories like high heels are known to have damaging effects on feet, back and knee as are crash dieting and unrealistic weight loss regimes on health.

Be yourself and put your best natural foot forward. And how can I forget to mention that classic lullaby - "Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder". Ahem.

(Views expressed are personal)

Ranjan Yumnam

* Ranjan Yumnam, presently an MCS probationer, is a frequent contributor to e-pao.net. He can be contacted at ranjanyumnam(at)gmail(dot)com. This article was webcasted on August 24, 2010.