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Beauty and success: How industries favor good looks
Despite acknowledging that her male counterparts at her law firm also put effort into their looks, the beauty standards imposed on the two genders differ. Often, her coworkers comment on how they thought she would be pretty if only she could lose weight. Meanwhile, her male counterparts with a similar physicality do not receive the same comments, Riska noted, pointing out to how “girls get fat-shamed”.
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Whether you prefer rollers, microneedlers or smart devices, there is a skincare tool for every beauty fan on the market right now. (Shutterstock/metamorworks)
“When I wore flats instead of heels, it got reported in the news. My pearls, my belts, my cardigans, my off-the-rack dresses from J. Crew, my apparently brave choice of white for an inaugural gown — all seemed to trigger a slew of opinions and instant feedback [...] It seemed that my clothes mattered more to people than anything I had to say,” Michelle Obama wrote in her book, Becoming, addressing that her looks had been the subject of people’s scrutiny while Barack Obama could easily “pull the same dark suit out of his closet and head off to work without even needing a comb”.
An extent of that double standard is something common faced by women when they enter the workforce. Women had to come to terms with a reality where their looks are as important, if not more, as their competence.
Riska, not her real name, a young professional who used to work at a law firm in South Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post about her experiences dealing with the constant pressure to look, in her words, “presentable”.
It had, in a way, become embedded into the company’s culture wherein employees, especially the women, were required to look good at all times.
“The HR [human resources department] in my office even said that if your [law] partner came to visit, regardless of whether it was 3 or 4 in the morning, you could not look tired. You had to look fresh,” said the 24-year-old.
Riska tried to meet the beauty standard at work, which translated into branded items and a gym membership in an attempt to lose weight -- a part of it was due to peer pressure. She also said the demands came with the job.
“I realized that in order for me to excel in this job, I couldn’t only rely on my work. I had to make sure that people actually thought I belonged there,” Riska said, adding that she had seen cases where more qualified candidates “lost the competition” against those who were more attractive and sociable.
