Pretty privilege

[SilverFalcon92]

So I been hearing about this word called pretty privilege so it’s basically getting treated good by other people because of your looks. Your life apparently becomes easier, you can have a better chance at finding a job, you’re more likely to get away with stuff that people normally won’t get away with, your more likely to be trusted etc. I’m not saying all people will find that person to be attractive but at the same time a lot of people seem to find that person attractive and they’ll treat them more differently than others simply because of their looks which to me I find a bit dumb because you shouldn’t treat people just because they look attractive. So here’s my question do you think pretty privilege is real or it just made up?

[KierC]

Hey!

So I think the answer to this topic might sound a bit similar to others we’ve discussed, but I think you might appreciate it.

Remember when we were talking about oversimplification? That comes into play here too. “Pretty privilege” is not something that happens all the time in every space, but there’s a word for it for a reason: folks talking about it because it is a way that people have and do sometimes treat other people, and it has to do with internal bias. But the phenomenon you’re talking about is also much more complicated.

Life isn’t categorically easier for “pretty people,” and I do also think the category of “pretty people” in itself is quite fraught with nasty -isms that we try not to give credence to. Prettiness is pretty hard to pin down too. At the end of the day I’d say “pretty privilege” is just one of those things where you’ll encounter folks talking about it and you may see instances of expressed bias, but it’s more important for you to make your own meaning of those experiences apart from the word “pretty privilege.” Know what I mean?

I also think in this question and in others, your answers are going to be found in the outside world. You’ll learn more about these things as you experience them more and more. With these topics, your own experience and opinion is just as important, and I think it’d be really worthwhile for you to find ways of creating your own answers and your own knowledge about this stuff by meeting people, having new experiences, and seeing some of these concepts play out in real life. What do you think of that?