Beauty may be only skin deep, but the damages associated with its absence go much deeper. Unattractive individuals are less likely to be hired and promoted, and are assumed less likely to have desirable traits, such as goodness, kindness, and honesty. Three quarters of women consider appearance important to their self image and over a third rank it as the most important factor. Our annual global investment in appearance totals close to $200 billion. The Beauty Bias explores our cultural preoccupation with attractiveness, the costs it imposes, and the responses it demands. Deborah Rhode describes the social, biological, market, and media forces that have contributed to appearance-related problems, as well as feminism's difficulties in confronting them. The book also reveals why it matters. Appearance-related bias infringes fundamental rights, compromises merit principles, reinforces debilitating stereotypes, and compounds the disadvantages of race, class, and gender. Yet only one state and a half dozen localities explicitly prohibit such discrimination. The Beauty Bias provides the first systematic survey of how appearance laws work in practice, and a compelling argument for extending their reach. The book also offers case histories of invidious discrimination and presents a plausible legal and political strategy for addressing them. Preface 1. Introduction The Personal Becomes Political: The Trouble With Shoes The Costs and Consequences of Appearance Surveying the Foundations: Social, Biological, Economic, Technological, and Media Forces Feminist Challenges and Responses Appearance Discrimination: Social Wrongs and Legal Rights Legal Frameworks A Roadmap for Reform 2. The Importance of Appearance and the Costs of Conformi Definitions of Attractiveness and Forms of Discrimination Interpersonal Relationships and Economic Opportunities Self- Esteem, Stigma, and Quality of Life Gender Differences The Price of Upkeep: Time and Money Health Risks Bias 3. The Pursuit of Beauty Sociobiological Foundations Cultural Values, Status, and Identity Market Forces Technology The Media Advertising The Culture of Beauty 4. Critics and Their Critics Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Critics The Contemporary Women's Movement Critics Responses Personal Interests and Political Commitments Beyond the Impasse 5. The Injustice of Discrimination Ensuring Equal Opportunity: Challenging Stigma and Stereotypes Challenging Subordination Based on Class, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Disability, and Sexual Orientation Protecting Self-Expression: Personal Liberty and Cultural Identity The Rationale for Discrimination and Resistance to Prohibitions The Parallel of Sex Harassment The Contributions of Law 6. Legal Frameworks The Limitations of Prevailing Legal Frameworks Prohibitions on Appearance Discrimination A Comparative Approach: European Responses to Appearance Discrimination The Contributions and Limitations of Legal Prohibitions on Appearance Discrimination Consumer Protection: Prohibitions on False and Fraudulent Marketing Practices Directions for Reform 7. Strategies for Change Defining the Goal Individuals Business and the Media Laws and Policy "This is a well-researched and thoughtful exploration of beauty ideals in legal, professional and other hard-hitting real-life spheres. A serious contribution to the literature of the politics of appearance." --Naomi Wolf, author of The Beauty Myth"Provocative. Rhode is at her most persuasive when arguing that in the United States, the penchant to discriminate against unattractive women (and also short men) is as pernicious and widespread as bias based on race, sex, age, ethnicity, religion, and disability. She provides overwhelming evidence of bias against the overweight, the unattractive, and the aging." --Dahlia Lithwick, Newsweek Deborah L. Rhode is the Ernest W. McFarland Professor of Law at Stanford University, and is the author of numerous books, including In the Interests of Justice, Access to Justice, and Ethics in Practice.