As we move into the 21st century, a greater sensitivity to the dynamics of discrimination against certain groups of the population is developing.

This fact, added to the increasingly unstoppable “empire of the image” in which the value of people is related to their aesthetics, has given way to the appearance of a new concept: aspectism .

What is aspectism?

The term “aspectism” is a translation of the word l ookism , and is discrimination based simply on aesthetic grounds.

This is a form of invisibility of certain people that, in addition, can be based on the most unpredictable aesthetic criteria. For example, it can go against people who are not tall, against people who regardless of their physique dress a certain way, or against people who do not fit into a class of beauty rigidly marked by a very specific trend.

In fact, regardless of the degree of intensity of the harmfulness of its effects, aspectism is considered to be one of the most widespread forms of discrimination on the planet, and has a devastating effect on self-esteem but also on living conditions in general.

The effects of aspectism

Aspectism is particularly harmful because it acts almost automatically, and is often beyond the control of individuals. Someone’s personal image is something that is captured instantly, at a glance. It doesn’t require any effort or time to study the appearance of others, but is captured spontaneously.

This means that, once a social dynamic has been created in which the personal aspect is decisive, this discriminatory bias occurs in all facets of life .

Just as in the case of discrimination against, for example, homosexuals does not occur instantly until the person’s sexual tendency is known, so it is aspectism that makes its influence felt from the zero minute in which eye contact is established. That is, in most of the social interactions that the average person establishes in a day.

But, in addition, another effect of aspectism is that is complemented by the halo effect .

The halo effect

The halo effect is a psychological phenomenon by which a particular characteristic of someone determines whether we will judge more positively or more negatively the rest of their characteristics and, ultimately, the person as a whole.

For example, people with a personal image that is considered neat, elegant or attractive may benefit from the halo effect both in their personal relationships and even when looking for work, as some recruiters will tend to think that these candidates are more social, creative, etc.

Thus, because of the cross between the aspectism and the halo effect, not only is the aspect considered very relevant and speaks to us about the value that a person has, but also it is assumed that the rest of that person’s qualities are also very good and desirable.

Faced with this disadvantage, people with less socially valued aesthetic characteristics are increasingly pushed into a corner and have less room for manoeuvre in many areas of their lives.

Combating this type of discrimination

At present, English-speaking societies, and especially the American one, are the area where most effort is made to combat aspectism.

The work environment is where most efforts are concentrated, since keeping people out of the labour market on the basis of criteria based on aesthetics can be very harmful not only to individuals, but to society as a whole. This is why it is increasingly necessary to ask for only CVs without photos, so that they can be selected in the most equitable way possible without being based on superficial characteristics .

However, it is very difficult to deal with aspectism, because it is rarely clear that there is discrimination on the basis of image. On the other hand, companies can even invent excuses to fire people because of their appearance, something they try to prohibit by creating laws.

Avoiding inequality through culture

In any case, it seems clear that part of the battle against discrimination should not be legal, but cultural, and it is necessary to educate and educate ourselves in the value of equality.

This, however, is not easy when there is a great advertising and propaganda machine that reaffirms the validity of absurd beauty canons , elegant and not strident clothing and, in general, an image close to the average in practically everything (in fact, the faces considered most attractive are those that have many physical characteristics located in the statistical average in terms of size and proportions).

For all these reasons, it is necessary to work in coordination to create more inclusive cultures in which the canons of beauty do not constrain our self-esteem or our personal, working and economic freedom.