Free Physical Appearance Essay Sample

Physical appearance has been given a lot of priority in our society today. People are judged primarily on the way they look and this has impacted a lot on the way people perceive beauty. Beauty has been said to be in the eyes of the beholder but the society has clear views on what beautiful is. There are set looks that are termed beautiful and falling short of these guidelines makes one feel like they are not beautiful. The society has come up with a particular look for women; they have to be tall and skinny with flawless skin to be beautiful. Men on the other hand have to have a six pack on their bodies and popping muscles to be termed handsome. It goes against the saying that a very small percentage of the population can have this kind of looks. Thus the majority is left out of the beauty bubble.

 
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The halo effect is a well known cognitive bias where by certain characteristics of a person are used to make an opinion of the person. It has been said that all the beautiful people have an easy way out of situations in that they are more likely to become successful and have all the things they may want to have in life. This is based on the notion that the beautiful people are also intelligent, more creative and happier than those who are not beautiful. The halo effect puts a lot of pressure on those people who do not directly fall in the bracket of being termed beautiful. They put a lot of emphasis on wearing the most expensive dresses and shoes in order to fit in the society. Many people buy expensive accessories as a way of finding a balance to get them closer to looking beautiful. The pressure even prompts some people to undergo surgeries in the name of correcting and changing their looks to have them look beautiful. Judging people based on their looks or appearance is unfair since it is a non work related attribute. Everyone should be given an equal and fair chance to present what they have at the work place. Being beautiful and does not necessarily equals to having the best brains or skills necessary to excel at the work place. In most cases, the people with the best looks are short of the required qualifications and qualities because they are used to having things done in their favor. It would be a great loss to a company to ignore the unattractive jobseeker with the right qualities.

The devil effect is the bias on a person on the basis of a single attribute on the person. One may be in a work environment where they perform very well. The person may be the best in the department and have the best and brightest chances of growing in the career ladder. However, the supervisor may diminish these bright dreams by constantly giving a below par opinion of the person. This may be based on the fact that the supervisor does not like the person or that they do not like the way the person talks. This has had an impact on the development of some people in the work place (Rosenzeigh, 10). Supervisors and people in power should not judge other people on values that are out of the job bracket. No one is perfect and what appeals to one may not appeal to the other. It is thus only fair that every person learns to accept the other person just the way they are. If a colleague has a habit that is repulsive, it is better to talk to them about it rather than hate them based on that single habit. Personal opinions also should not be allowed to cloud the judgment of people. First impressions are not to be the sole decision making ways to like or dislike an individual.

The Devil Wears Prada is a perfect comedy drama film that clearly depicts the thin line between what is real and first impressions. He film follows the life and work experience of Andy, a common lady reporting to her high profile job as a junior personal assistant. Her employer is The Runway magazine which is an executive publishing company. Andy is set to work for the strict editor-in-chief, Miranda Priestly. When she walks into the offices for the interview, she gets disapproving stares from all the people she meets. This is because according to them, she is dressed in a rather shady manner. The company has put forth high standards of presentation for all its employees for which she does not fit. Andy almost misses out on the interview because the assistant judges her looks and almost ignores her. All the employees at Runway magazine don a similar look; they are all skinny, attractive and wear the latest clothes in the latest fashion in accessories. Andy clearly does not fit in and is quickly overlooked. In the beauty is good theory, it is stated that attractive people have a higher chance of getting hired than the unattractive people. In respect to this, Andrea is judged by the first impression based entirely on her looks and almost misses out on the internship position (Gladwell, 12).

The Devil Wears Prada also effectively depicts the devil effect. When Andy is hired, she still maintains her look and personality. However, when she comes late to work the very next day, Miranda is not amused. Miranda looks down on her and gives her the least kind of errands to run for her. Andy is supposed to get her coffee and is not sent to Miranda’s office. Her first mistake in the eyes of Miranda almost keeps her working below her potential. Andy does not have it any better since she fits in poorly in the work environment with her colleagues. She does not see eye to eye with her supervisor, Emily and this almost brings in tension in their office space. Emily remains the personal assistant while Andy’s continuous fumbling with her work leaves her picking after Miranda. Miranda dumps her coat and bag on Andy’s desk for her to pick every time she walks into the office. As much as Andy feels underutilized, there is little else she can do to change Miranda’s mind.

It is important that we all take some time to learn more about the people that we interact with. It would seem unfair if someone judged us by our looks or by the fact that we came in late to work one morning. The same way that we would like others to get to know us is the same way we all should take time to get to know them. Managers and supervisors should be educated on the effects the halo and the devil effects have on the workers. Awareness should be created especially at the work place to ensure that all the people are given fair and level working ground. Staff morale is lifted when they realize that the competitive grounds are equal for all of them without favor of one or two members (Rommetveit, 22). This is to maximize on quality and production from each and every member of staff. Once everyone understands that we cannot all be equal, then the better it would be to for colleagues to embrace each other and work as a team.

 

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