It turns out that being “attractive” is different depending on the gender. Shocker! For women, being attractive has more to do with grooming. Meaning…is your hair styled nice, does your makeup look good, is your outfit on POINT? An attractive women is someone who is put together nicely! So I suppose I should stop relying on my natural beauty to shine through my every day work out clothes.
Wong and Penner concluded that “for men, only about half of the effect of attractiveness is due to grooming.” Once again, shocker! Men can roll into work with wrinkled clothes and untamed hair and no one would be the wiser. It’s sad that so much weighs on the way women present themselves.
And it’s more than just looks for us, women have to behave in a certain way that’s attractive to their employers. “Most research and most people tend to see attractiveness as a fixed, innate trait, but the researchers say it’s more accurate to think of it as a combination of biological traits, personality characteristics and beauty practice,” wrote Ana Swanson, writer for The Washington Post.
I would prefer to live in a world where my physical beauty doesn’t factor in to how much I make. It’s crazy to think that someone who is more “average” looking would make less than someone who puts more focus on how they look. I don’t think there is anything wrong with making sure you look your best. But, should you get paid more money because of that?
