Beauty in the Workplace: Brains, Beauty, or Both?

The other evening, I signed on to my AOL Instant Messenger account to talk to a friend. My AOL News popped up, and I felt captivated by this article about women in the workplace. I just entered the working world, so I’m always thinking about what to wear to work. At my last job where I worked for five months, I dressed up in slacks and a dress shirt. At my current job, we dress pretty casually in jeans, tee shirts, and trendy outfits. We all look well dressed and tasteful, but we have our own style of professionalism.

Anyway, this news article that I read discussed how women should dress and mentioned that taller and “prettier” women are, on average, paid much higher than women who are overweight and short (man, who defined standards of beauty here?!). Furthermore, the article encouraged women to wear high heels, style their hair, wear “just enough” makeup, and dress in a stylish way. Let me say that I don’t necessarily agree with these opinions, but I’m curious about what kind of pressures women face in the working world. Is it always the “prettiest” and “trendiest” who succeed, or is there something more to it? Is it unfair that women have these kinds of pressure?

In my opinion, it’s true that women face pressures. In any case, I believe that both men and women face pressure to look good. I’ve been in the working world for less than a year, so I don’t really have a completely formed opinion on the subject, but I’m curious about what others have to say.