The Promise of Beauty: Women, Work, and Whether Beauty Really Pays
Remember Debrahlee Lorenzana, the chick who sued Citibank, claiming she was hired for being “too hot”? Well, she may be a total attention-obsessed moron, but she does highlight the double-bind of women at work: that we’re expected to be attractive at all times, but if we’re too attractive, we might just be punished for it—by men and women alike.
NEWSWEEK has a new poll on the role of appearance at work coming out next week, and while we’re not allowed to reveal the full results just yet, here’s a disturbing sneak preview:
* Sixty one percent of the corporate hiring managers we surveyed (60 percent of whom were men) said they believed a woman would benefit from showing off her figure at work.
Yet at the same time…
* Forty seven percent of those same managers said they believe some women are penalized for being too good-looking in the office.
Gross, right? Tune in to NEWSWEEK on Monday to see the full poll results—as well as various essays and photos, and even a Michael Jackson-inspired morphing face graphic to show our changing beauty ideal.
It’ll all be online at Newsweek.com/BEAUTY
-jessica
