SOCI 261 10. Beauty, Status, and Inequality

Beauty

A form of capital and a tool to reinforce inequalities that focuses on aesthetic and body capital

Physical Appearance

A form of capital or aesthetic, erotic, physical, or bodily capital

Aesthetical Capital

A combination of different physical resources or assets related to facial beauty, body size, and physique

• communicates status and can be exchanged for other resources

The Male Gaze

A way of looking at women in visual culture, often placing women as objects of desire

The Halo Effect

An effect in evidence when one positive trait spills over into unrelated domains

• pretty privilege

The Beauty Queue

A hierarchical line that arranges people on how closely they approximate the beauty standard and captures the intersectional qualities of beauty and its relationship to inequality

• from “most” to “least” beautiful

• race, class, gender, disability, age determine positioning and mobility in the queue

Colorism

A system of inequality in which people are differentially rewarded based on the lightness or darkness of their skin, with lighter skin as seen more beautiful

Beauty Industrial Complex

The industries, institutions, and cultural norms that both define and profit from the production of beauty standards and the tools sold to achieve them

Body Work

A term used to capture the unpaid work people do on their bodies

Aesthetic Labour

The work of looking and maintaining a beautiful appearance that is often compensated and reflects the value of one’s look or appearance