Power of Looks

There is a saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, implying that beauty is subjective. Does that mean that 'better looking' people have more social power? This book provides a fascinating insight into the social stratification of people based on looks - the artificial placement of people into greater and lesser power strata based on physical appearance.The author analyses different aspects of physical appearance such as faces, breasts, eye shapes, height and weight as they are related to social power and inequality. For example tall people are often associated with power and publicly react as though tall people possess and deserve more power than shorter people. The author then assesses how people's physical appearance affects their chances of marriage and employment.The book contributes to and differentiates itself from current literature by emphasizing sociological theory - including constructionism and critical theory - and research to understand the phenomenon of social aesthetics - a term coined by the author to refer to the social reaction to physical appearance. The author argues that attractive people, like the ordinary and the unattractive, are all viewed and treated differently based on their appearance. She concludes by attempting to reveal whether society on a global and local level will come to recognize the worth of humans regardless of their appearance in the same way as we have come to accept people's worth regardless of race, gender and age.