Are You Attractive?

Story by Taylor Schmidt »

Are you attractive? You may fit the right “look” for certain people, but society has its own rules. According to the Association for Psychological Science (APS), there are many things that can play into your attractiveness – everything from your clothes to your social status to your body shape. The APS also said that attractive people get better treatment in our society; mothers give more affection to attractive babies and teachers favor more attractive students.

This favorable treatment is something that Junior Madison Arnold sees in her peers and even in celebrities.

“I think a lot of times people feel like they aren’t valued as much if they aren’t pretty or attractive,” Arnold said. “Sometimes if someone isn’t attractive in movies, they aren’t as respected. Like in the new Star Wars movie, everyone judges Kylo Ren and he isn’t very good looking.”

Some people believe that society’s expectations have had negative effects on the way people view themselves and how people are judged. APS said that our brains judge the appeal of a face before we even know that we’ve seen one. This gives us a preconceived notion about this person, who we’ve never met, just based on their face.

“I think that magazines, tv shows, and stuff affect the way people view themselves,” Kelby Dressler, Jr., said, “There’s also that idea that girls should be skinny and it seems like through society’s eyes it’s not common for girls to be muscular or really fit, that’s more of the male’s role.”

On the other hand, people like Junior Camdon Willits believe that the role society has played in deciding attractiveness has had a positive impact.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having an ideal body type when the ideal body type is someone who looks healthy,” Willits said. “Obviously it’s a high standard – but it’s ideal – it should be a high standard.”

There is beauty in the eye of the beholder to some extent, but according to APS, there is a general consensus across cultures about what makes a pretty or handsome face and these preferences have mainly been acquired from life experience. In Senior Ber’Shawn LeFlore’s experience, it’s more than just looks that matter.

“I do actually heavily critique every little thing because you could fall in love with someone for looks but their personality could be the total opposite,” LeFlore said.

“If there was less pressure on being attractive or pretty, I think we’d have a lot less to worry about,” Arnold said.