Nicolette Van
Duysen
November 4, 2014
English 1100
Essay 3
Benefits
of Being Beautiful
Everyone desires beauty. Meaning,
there is not a single person in the world that does not want to be beautiful. Beauty
is a complex subject that follows people around everywhere they go. It is
enviable to avoid the concept of beauty, because beauty is everywhere we look. Lust
for perfections is in movies, magazines, and all around us. You could see
beautiful figures in any movie, any television show, and in every picture in a
book or magazine; it’s all around us. It is a constant reminder of how powerful
image is, and the effects it has on everyone. Even just by seeing someone who
is beautiful you would notice that they are receiving better treatment than everyone
else because of the way they look. Looking at the way someone is treated when
they are beautiful creates an instant jealousy and passion for it. You want to
be that person that everyone likes and wants to be with; you want to get your
way all of the time just based on how you look. In the Ted Talk, “Looks aren’t everything. Believe me, I’m a model.”, by
Cameron Russell, she is a first hand inside source, admitting to everyone the
benefits she receives from being beautiful. Furthermore, it is unfair that
being beautiful has various benefits that are not given to everyone.
Evidently, by being beautiful you
could get out of stuff. For instance, it is no competition if two people did
something wrong and one of them is beautiful, who has a better chance of
getting out of whatever they have done. In the Ted Talk, she explains benefits that
she has received just by being beautiful. For instance, she explains a story
about when her and her friend were teenagers; her friend was not the best
driver and ran a red light. When a cop pulled them over she stated that it only
took a, “Sorry officer,” and she was off the hook. She explained how it is not
only the free materialistic things she gets but also the free things like
escaping a payment from a ticket that is barely talked about. She stated, “ I
got these free things because how I look not who I am, and there are people
paying a cost for how they look and not who they are” (qtd . in Russell). This shows us that society is mainly focused
on people’s physical image. If someone thinks a person is good looking, they
will receive more benefits that most people would be paying for, which is not
morally right. In addition, she then informed us that she was from New York and
showed a study that claimed in 2011 over 140,000 between the ages of 14 and 18
were stopped, and 86% of that number were Black and Latino men. There is only
between 120,000 and 177,000 Black and Latino men in New York. Russell then went
on saying, “For them it isn’t a question of will I get stopped? But how many
times will I get stopped? When will I get stopped”(qtd . in Russell). Russell admitted that she gets out of things
like that based on the way she looks. That being said, it is not fair for
people like Cameron Russell, just based on looks she can get extra benefits
like escaping a ticket, that a majority of the people cannot just on how they
look.
In addition, it is easier for people
who are beautiful to get more jobs. In other words, people will most likely
listen to someone that is attractive, and that it is why more “pretty” people
get hired apposed to someone not as pretty. If you are attractive you can just
use sexual appeal to get what you want. It is a “no brainer” that if two people
are going for the same job, and one is beautiful while the other clearly is
not, it is evident who will be getting the job. In modeling that plays a huge
role, which is why Cameron Russell got the job she has. She became a model because;
she had more “beautiful” qualities than someone else running for it. She stated
herself that she won the “genetic lottery”, and even though it was not in her
control she was lucky and gets benefits by the way she looks. It is not fair
that you can persuade someone that you are a better fit for something, just on
how you look.
Furthermore, it is clear that people
who are beautiful get treated better. If you have the gift of being beautiful,
people will like you more and give you better treatment. Cameron Russell
obviously she gets free stuff from being a model, but she explained a story
that is completely unfair for everyone else. She walked into a store and wanted
this dress, but she forgot her money. Anyone else, a store owner would just
give them one look and hold the door open for them watching them leave, but for
Cameron Russell they let her take the dress for free just because she was
beautiful. The treatment is not fair to everyone else that just because someone
is beautiful does not mean that they should just get benefits over everyone
else.
People that are beautiful get
benefits over everyone else. It is not fair that people are treated better just
because, they were born more fortunate than everyone else. Cameron Russell gave
some honest insight to what goes on with society treating people better just
because they are beautiful. It should open everybody’s eyes to the fact that
society treats people based on physical appearance. She wrapped up with her
talk with, “… I found it very difficult to strike an honest balance because on
the one hand, I felt very uncomfortable to come out here and say, ‘Look I
received all these benefits from a deck stacked in my favor’…” (qtd . in
Russell). She is admitting to us that beautiful people are awarded with more
benefits. This is unfair because, it is all based on luck of being beautiful
and over things you cannot control. People should open societies eyes into
seeing this kind of behavior and what to do to stop it. You cannot stop someone
from being beautiful, nor would you want to, but you could make it aware to the
public of the unfair treatment. People could take a stand like Cameron Russell
did in sharing this information on video. As long as people are aware it should
not happen as often. It could be as simple as writing a complaint if you were
charged for something and someone else was not, or just making it noticed when
it is happening. Just because someone is beautiful, does not mean they should
get special treatment because of it.
Work
Cited
Russell,
Cameron. “Looks Aren’t Everything. Believe Me, I’m A Model.” Ted Talk,
Mid
Atlantic. Oct. 2012. Lecture.
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