Essay, Research Paper: Beauty

Beauty: Power or PassivityBeauty is most definitely a form of power. If a person is considered beautiful, or possesses the qualities that the public eye deems beautiful, they tend to have a certain degree of power. Beauty is most often used in the advertising business. On television, many commercials for products ranging from shampoo to cars depict women of beauty. Most people in this modern world would rather see a person who has appealing looks than a person whose looks are not so attractive. When consumers see a commercial, a beautiful woman can often be seen telling how much they love the product and how much they use it and how they would never use anything else. Many people are persuaded to buy items represented by the beautiful person. This is an example of a transfer device. Many people are foolish enough to believe that if they are to buy the shampoo supported by say, Daisy Fuentes, they will have hair that is as "beautiful" as hers and perhaps be more like her. The advertising companies who promote such commercials are well aware of the public s ideas of what is beautiful and what is not. This factor can be easily noticed in shampoo commercials where more attention is given to the rest of a "beautiful" woman s body than to her hair. Beauty often plays an unfortunate role in deciding things such as if a person will be employed by a company or not. For instance, if two individuals with the same background, training, degrees, and credentials are in competition for a job, the employer may often choose the woman who is more pleasing to look at. This is an instance where beauty can impair a person s good judgment. Beauty truly is a very powerful thing that shapes many of the ways our world is run.