Unattractiveness or ugliness is the degree to which a person's

physical features Physical attractiveness is the degree to which a person's physical features are considered aesthetically pleasing or beautiful. The term often implies sexual attractiveness or desirability, but can also be distinct from either. There are many ...

are considered aesthetically unfavorable.

Terminology

Ugliness is a property of a person or thing that is unpleasant to look upon and results in a highly unfavorable evaluation. The point of ugliness is to be aesthetically unattractive, unpleasing, repulsive, or offensive. There are many terms associated with visually unappealing or aesthetically undesirable people, including hideousness and unsightliness, more informal terms such as ''turn-offs.''

History

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

had

strabismus Strabismus is an eye disorder in which the eyes do not properly align with each other when looking at an object. The eye that is pointed at an object can alternate. The condition may be present occasionally or constantly. If present during a ...

and a bloated, asymmetrical face, and he attributed many of his philosophical ideas to his lifelong struggle to come to terms with his self-described ugliness.

Socrates Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...

also used his ugliness as a philosophical touch point, concluding that philosophy can save a person from their outward ugliness. Famous in his own time for his perceived ugliness,

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

was described by a contemporary: "to say that he is ugly is nothing; to add that his figure is grotesque, is to convey no adequate impression." However, his looks proved to be an asset in his personal and political relationships, as his law partner William Herndon wrote, "He was not a pretty man by any means, nor was he an ugly one; he was a homely man, careless of his looks, plain-looking and plain-acting. He had no pomp, display, or dignity, so-called. He appeared simple in his carriage and bearing. He was a sad-looking man; his melancholy dripped from him as he walked. His apparent gloom impressed his friends, and created sympathy for him—one means of his great success." The problem of ugliness also has a history within theology and Christian thought, where it has often been associated with dangerous stereotypes.

Prejudice

Discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...

or prejudice against unattractive people is sometimes referred to as

lookism Lookism is prejudice or discrimination toward people who are considered to be physically unattractive, and bases perception of all other qualities, such as intelligence and abilities, on a person’s physical appearance. It occurs in a variety ...

, cacophobia, or aschemophobia, and if it is a result of one's disfigurement,

ableism Ableism (; also known as ablism, disablism (British English), anapirophobia, anapirism, and disability discrimination) is discrimination and social prejudice against physically or mentally disabled people. Ableism characterizes people as they a ...

Teratophobia The English suffixes -phobia, -phobic, -phobe (from Greek φόβος ''phobos'', "fear") occur in technical usage in psychiatry to construct words that describe irrational, abnormal, unwarranted, persistent, or disabling fear as a mental dis ...

is an aversion or fear of people who appear monstrous, have blemishes or are disfigured. When such an aversion is coupled with prejudice or discrimination, it may be viewed as a form of bullying. With the dating world or courtship, judging others purely based on their outward appearance is acknowledged as an attitude that does transpire, yet is often viewed as an approach that is superficial and shallow. Some research indicates a

sentencing disparity Sentencing disparity or ''sentencing discrimination'' is defined as "a form of unequal treatment in criminal punishment". Variation among judges Two judges could be faced with a similar case and one could order a very harsh sentence while another ...

where unattractive people are "more likely to be recommended psychiatric care" than attractive people. Prejudice against ugliness is complex: Gretchen Henderson suggests that there is, paradoxically, a cultural suspicion towards both beauty and ugliness.

Legality

There are some jurisdictions that already make it illegal to discriminate on the basis of immutable forms of aesthetic appearance, including the Australian state of Victoria, wherein lookism was officially recognized as an illegal form of discrimination in 1995. In the United States, several states and major cities' jurisdictions have legislation prohibiting appearance-related discrimination.

References

External links