DOES BEAUTY BEAT ALL?

"There was mistakes in the test." What is wrong with this sentence?

This was how I was blown off from a job interview today after I turned in what I am sure was a clean edit of a 4 sentence grammar and spelling "test" prior to what were supposed to be open interviews. It was the third time I had applied to this particular company and the first time that they had offered interviews. I sat in my car for a while and watched as the overweight hispanic woman exited after I did but the young blond was apparently interviewed.

I know I harp on this and there is nothing anyone can say to change it. I just think we all need to be aware that this goes far beyond attitudes about fat women in their fifties.

Deborah Rhode, a Stanford law professor wrote a book called "The Beauty Bias" in which she argues that in America, discrimination against unattractive women and short men is as pernicious and widespread as bias based on race, sex, age, ethnicity, religion, and disability.

Rhode cites research to prove her point: 11 percent of surveyed couples say they would abort a fetus predisposed toward obesity. College students tell surveyors they’d rather have a spouse who is an embezzler, drug user, or a shoplifter than one who is obese.

In an article published in Newsweek, Dahlia Lithwick reports that the less attractive you are in America, the more likely you are to receive a longer prison sentence, a lower damage award, a lower salary, and poorer performance reviews. You are less likely to be married and more likely to be poor.


So, playing Devil's Advocate here: just how attractive are your kids? We are all very concerned with their education and health...should we start looking into plastic surgery, personal trainers and wardrobe consultants? Wouldn't that be doing the right thing to help our kids get ahead?

MY NEW JOB

My husband Tom is an attorney. He has a "solo" practice in employment law, representing employees. After 20 years working in the corporate environment ("for the man") he decided it was time to actually practice law which is what he went to school to do.

In the past 6 years he has created a successful marketing routine, but finds it time consuming - taking time away from his billable work. Since I have recently come onto the job market - it seemed a natural for me to take over the marketing, and in time, the screening of potential clients. I can do this part-time from home. Cool.

I have been learning about Google Adwords, an advertising scheme created to confuse and confound it's potential users. It is meant to drive potential clients to his website. He also uses Craig's List with success and a service which connects people to attorneys.

In the past couple of weeks I have mentioned to a few people that I had quit my job. That news gets reactions in, as the current vernacular goes, these troubled times. Tom's practice is not being bombarded by clients with complaints against their employers, but it is a good time to be able to help people who are not being treated fairly - and it will keep me off the rolls of the unemployed, too.