An individual’s appearance can influence his or her job prospects (Chiu and Babcock, 2002) and career

progression (Pettinger, 2004). When workers’ embodied characteristics are commodified as part of the
employment relationship, then their work efforts fall within the domain of aesthetic labour (Witz et al.,
2003). The focus on physicality that is central to aestheticized work means that people are frequently
subject to pressure to work, employment and society craft, and re-craft, themselves in order to match
the bodily requirements of their role (Entwistle and Wissinger, 2006). Prior studies have found this
crafting includes dress codes (Christman and Branson, 1990); body work for plus-size models
(Czerniawski, 2012); and rules regarding make-up and hair (Hochschild, 1983).

This assumption that 'looking good' and 'sounding right' are skills that cannot easily be trained
into people challenges the conventional understanding of 'soft skills'. Recruitment
strategies based on this notion could lead to an increase in potential discrimination. Aesthetic
labour should be about great service, not great teeth. the economy shifts towards "high touch"
jobs, the premium on presentation is rising. A key task for government is to reconcile these
commercial imperatives with those of fairness and social justice. Employers need to tread
carefully too. -Human Resources Management
Especially in services, because employees interact with customers and physically embody the company,
employee looks matter. As a consequence, service employers appear to be intentionally discriminating
in favour of workers perceived to be either ‘good looking’ or who have the ‘right look’ and penalise
those workers perceived as less physically attractive or appropriate (Nickson et al. 2005). This ‘lookism’
is being signalled as the next frontier in employment discrimination. As journalist Barbara Oaff stated
bluntly in the Guardian in 2003; ‘If your gender and your race haven’t kept you off the short list, your
physical appearance still might.’ -Christ Warhust, professor

With a similar emphasis on self-conscious performance to Dean, Teela Sanders suggests that the
aesthetic labouring of sex workers contributes to the manufacture of a ‘prostitute identity’. Investing in
a manufactured identity involves conforming “to the aesthetic nature of the prostitute role as a business
strategy to attract regular custom, and ultimately, a steady clientele” (Dean, 2005, p.335). This might
involve cosmetic surgery (Dean, 2005, p.332) and also waxing, plucking and shaving body hair and
wearing ‘sexy’ lingerie. Here we see how forms of consumption are needed to ensure the working body
conforms to contemporary norms of femininity and therefore the body itself is rendered

aesthetic labour should recognise the embodied nature of its performance, the tensions between what
is presumed about the worker (their physical characteristics for example), and the extent to which
bodies can be ‘worked on’. The extent to which aesthetic labouring is a reflection of embodied self

lynne Pettinger university of esex entitled developing al of consumption

Lookism was first recognized as a term for discrimination based on looks in 2000 by dictionary writers.
Both the Oxford English Dictionary and the American 1 Global Media Journal Vol 13, Issue 24 Heritage
Dictionary have included the word “lookism” in the editions published since 2000 (Ayto, 1999).
Considering the fact that discrimination based on appearance namely lookism (see also Tietje & Cresap,
2005) may have always been there in human life, a new “ism” word related to appearance shows that it
is just recently that the issue is alarming. The concern is that we do not see all diversities as beautiful
and we instead create limited ideals of beauty and assess everybody according to that criterion,
unaware of the fact that beauty is a subjective matter which is based on relativity. So the problem is not
in preferring attractiveness or beauty, the concern is the people who identify what is beautiful, and
what factors are involved to build criteria of attractiveness of people in different countries and
cultures.If previously, every small size of groups, tribes, cities or in large scale countries could identify
norms and beauty ideals, recently, the phenomenon of globalization has hugely impacted the cultural
values and has created a united norm of beauty. Multinational organizations, corporate brandings,
advertisements, models, movie stars and global media play a very important role by accelerating
interactions among societies around the world.

Obviously, companies have noticed that hiring, developing and promoting good looking people who
have also got technical skills at some level impact their bottom line, so attractive, fashionable individuals
are preferred in the employment market. The same result was found by Little and Roberts (2012) in
their research about “Evolution, appearance, and occupational success”. What they confirm in their
research is that “there is growing evidence that appearance influences hiring decisions and attractive
individuals are more likely to be hired. (p. 795)”. Not to fall behind, applicants and employees do extra
effort to improve their appearance in line with beauty ideals of the societies including workplaces that
are a small representative of each society. Therefore, discrimination based on appearance which is now
labeled as “lookism” starts to become a concern because some features of globalization including media
and global visual advertisement is influencing lookism regardless of geographical area or cultures.

Depending on how strict the dress code is may have a deeper impact on cabin crew especially if
health and safety is at risk; health and safety regarding the uniform worn by flight attendants is
discussed by many academics, the safety of footwear and high heels are deemed to cause
health issues in the future for example foot, leg and back problems. Trousers have been
accepted recently by British Airways as a sign gender equality and protection for crew, trousers
will protect and comfort crew on long-haul flights, weather conditions and even the Zika virus.
The clothing needs to provide a certain level of protection for crew members in a crisis situation
as the crew have the responsibility of helping passengers, therefore, heels are likely to be
argued as inadequate footwear. Many people may disagree with these changes due to lack of
research surrounding the problems with such clothing, however, it was not apparent till further
research that uniform or aesthetics are important to the health and safety of the crew, not only
physically but mentally. Academics have argued the issues regarding mental health and
aesthetic labour, the link is evident. Appearance requirements place extra stress on staff
causing possible mental health issues in the future for example anxiety, strain and depression.
Flight attendants spending extra time and money on fulfilling these requirements are likely to
cause financial worries and lack of sleep which are unhealthy for any worker. Although this is
oblivious to many people that flight attendants have suffered from these issues due to a long-
term persistence, airlines have the ability to change and improve the dress code standards to
decrease the chances for future crew. However, due to customer expectations and corporate
image, this is very unlikely.
Persons with a less favourable appearance are likely to have their curricula vitae assessed in a less
favourable manner and also less likely to be appointed to the position in question.20 This equally applies
to the promotion of the employee, even in professions where appearance is irrelevant to job
performance.21 It follows, then, that the more favourable a person‘s appearance, the more positively
the person will be perceived and responded to, and the more successful the person‘s personal and
professional life. Conversely, a less favourable appearance will result in less favourable treatment and
less success.22 Persons generally associate an unfavourable appearance with unfavourable
characteristics, creating the stereotype that ―what is ugly is deviant.‖2

Aesthetic labor - ―the experience of prejudice or discrimination on the grounds of appearance‖. 43

Lookism has also been associated with the general ―look‖ of a person as well as their ―style‖,44 and is
thus not restricted to immutable characteristics only. It also refers to the idea that individuals‘
appearance indicates their value, especially in the employment arena, and is measured according to
society‘s standard of what beauty should be.45 This, in turn, results in stereotypes and generalisations
about how people measure up to this standard.

A study in the United States revealed just how much importance people attach to appearance in
employment, and yielded the following results:55 Of all the participants, 13% stated that they would
contemplate having a cosmetic medical procedure in order to improve their confidence and
competitiveness in the job market. Altogether 3% revealed that they had already undergone a cosmetic
procedure in order to increase their value in the workplace. Some 73% believed that a favourable
appearance influenced employment decisions such as hiring and promotion, as well as the recruitment
of new clients

Another question that now presents itself is whether it would constitute unjust appearance
discrimination based on attractiveness if employers give preference to the aesthetically gifted in
vocations that sell physical attractiveness. Examples of such vocations may include the entertainment
industry, exotic dancing and modelling. 124 Gumin has suggested that employers may indeed
discriminate on the basis of attractiveness in these vocations.1

The effect of height on salary is no myth. It has been found that every additional inch (2,54 cm) in height
results in a 1,8%-2,2% increase in wages, or an additional $789 per inch, annually.152 Studies continue
to find a significant relationship between height and earnings.153 It has been suggested that being four
inches (10,16 cm) taller is more significant in terms of success in the business world than any paper
qualifications that an individual may have

tattoos and piercings have been described as being ―the sole province of bikers, sailors and rock stars‖,
as well as other marginalised groups such as carnival workers and convicted criminals, with no area of
their body being ―off limits‖, including tongues, navels and genitalia.185 These so-called ―fringe‖
personalities normally use tattoos and piercings to ―signify their outsider status and rejection of
mainstream society‖.