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Kar 'ma n.(Hinduism, Buddhism) The effect of a person's actions & conduct to determine one's destiny
Beauty Is A Currency
We've all witnessed, and perhaps even guilty ourselves of, giving preferential treatment to beauty: The hot girl standing in line at the coffee shop; The impeccably dressed interview candidate; The articulate salesperson; The better looking tennis player. Beauty is rewarded by the masses and is a universal theme. You can find it on the superficial shores of Newport Beach, the enchanting streets of Rome, or the other side of the world. How else to explain China's decision to have a gorgeous li'l girl lip synch their national anthem in the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics? The original singer had incredible vocals but cursed with ordinary looks and therefore replaced with a more attractive, albeit less talented, girl.
At our core, I suspect we were all appalled by this decision. And, yet, perhaps only at a subconscious level, we are all guilty of this behavior. The extra little favor, the added smile, the bigger tip, the better salary...all are rewards often based on the power of beauty. Consider the following scenario that plays out daily in the corporate world: Two candidates of equal experience and merit being considered for a promotion; Both equally qualified and yet one is significantly more attractive. Who upgrades to the new corner office?
Consider the phenomenon known as Anna Kournikova. Surely, you remember her though you can barely pronounce her last name and she has never won a major tennis tournament. So why is she both fabulously popular and wealthy due to product endorsements with a rabid universal fan base to this day? She retired nearly five years ago with no major trophy to her name!
Beauty is indeed a currency. It is a transaction we all witness in our daily lives. Occasionally it's a blatant, obvious selection but more often it's a transparent, intangible nod of favoritism that I refer to as Soft Dollar benefits. These are the little biases, the added preferences, the bigger favors...all rewards reaped by the beautiful ones. You can't attach a price tag to it (versus Hard Dollars), but they are powerful advantages nonetheless. It has been suggested that a very attractive person can offer 30% less (less education, less experience, less effort) than their ordinary looking peers and still achieve the same level of success. Like Miller Lite, they can be less filling but still offer great taste to the world.
Beauty is often in the eye of the beholder. But I'm generally referring to beauty where there is a universal consensus of attraction. The true currency of beauty is one that transcends gender, nationality, religion and other hurdles ordinary people typically confront. It is so powerful that we all generally pay up in Soft Dollars, if not in Hard Dollars too.
So...look around you, and even inside you, and witness the reverse discrimination of beauty that plays out in all our daily lives and the media. Then, as the ad says, "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful!".
