Why do we Label people?

A long time ago while I was in my last year in primary school my male teacher decided to hold a beauty contest in class. Yes in class, the panel of judges being my male classmates. Since we were nearing exam time there was not much teaching taking place. So here is how he decided to do it.

5 girls were to be chosen and of the 5 only one beauty queen was to be crowned. There was no price to be won but when one is at that age, everything matters, right?

To my dismay, I was one of the chosen five and I didn’t like the idea of us girls paraded in front of the whole class.  As we stood in front of two combined classes waiting for our fate, the teacher belted, who is the ugliest of the 5. Again to my horror my name was called out and I was to sit down.

Fast forward 28 years later, I am still questioning ‘what beauty is?’ A social construct like the other many that has allowed us to box people who are different from us is my answer.

Thin privilege, hetero privilege, white privilege, male privilege, white female privilege financial privilege and now pretty privilege- all social constructs stereotyping and labelling people.

Usually we are unaware of our privileges. They are such a normal part of our daily lives that we don't even consider them privileges. So much so that when someone calls us out on any of them we feel attacked.

So is pretty privilege a thing? It seems a bit strange for a privilege to be based on something as subjective as looks. The other aspects of one's identity such as sexual orientation, race and gender are usually more easily quantifiable (for lack of a better word).

What is pretty privilege?

To put it in simple speak, it's part of the reason why celebrities are good looking nine out of ten times. This is not to say that actual talent and merit are negated, but rather looks can grant you access that isn't so easily attainable for others.

"Perceived differently" is an apt way of putting it. And it's because of this perception that socially attractive people get treated differently or rather, more favourably than people not deemed conventionally pretty by mainstream standards.

We’re more likely to view them as intelligent, healthy, and socially capable simply because they look good.

It's not even about getting attention, but about how you can thaw ice just by walking into a room and suddenly people warm up to you or laugh harder at your jokes.

There's an episode of the 2012 sitcom, Partners, where the guys explain to Sophia Bush's character, Ali, that she's not actually as funny as she thinks she is - people only laugh at what she says because she's pretty.

This episode actually partially addressed what was mentioned earlier about how privileged people are unaware of their high position on social hierarchies until they find themselves in a situation where their privilege no longer serves as an access card to various perks.

Often pretty privilege is associated more with how the opposite sex perceives you (as was the case in this episode of Partners), but even people who identify as the same gender as you can treat you like a special snowflake just because of the perfect symmetry of your face.

We see it with girl squads, where the Beyoncé of the group is usually the most socially attractive girl or how in school everyone wants to be friends with the pretty girl.

And the most physically fit boy becomes the head boy - this whole thing gets carried all the way up to adulthood.

What is this phenomenon even based on?

I'll always remember this quote by Leo Tolstoy; "It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.”

Because this is what pretty privilege is essentially based on - the association of beauty with goodness.

A Harvard research paper titled, Why Beauty Matters, presented findings on "the beauty premium", which states that "if someone is easy on the eyes, the enjoyment we derive from looking at them colours our perceptions of other attributes.

The research says we’re more likely to view them as intelligent, healthy, and socially capable simply because they look good."

The study also mentioned how this may even start as early as pre-school and primary school, where cuter children are given more attention by their teachers. And this attention yields better grades and more confidence in the future.

So how do you know you've got pretty privilege?

Everyone is beautiful, whether you think so or not, so who decides who gets these pretty privilege card or not?

It's not necessarily an arbitrary omniscient being handing out these benefits, but rather a series of "coincidences" which start making sense once you join the dots.

Like you know you've got pretty privilege when...

• When people can't wrap their head around the fact that your boyfriend beat you to death because you're too pretty to be abused. What this mind-set implies is that the murder of a less attractive woman is not worthy of outrage and that if you’re attractive, the people you date will never ill treat you.
• When everyone agrees that you're not the most talented vocalist, but your music career still somehow thrives anyway.
• When your looks can get you further (and richer) in life than a degree ever could.
• You're just shopping and minding your own business in a store and a stranger offers to pay for everything in your basket just because you look good.
• Oh, and your drinks are often covered like all the other things you get "on the house."
• You get a promotion because you just finished a training course while others in the same situation have to look elsewhere.
• People respond promptly to your texts.
• When your default response to someone being favoured over you is "she's not even that pretty," because you're so used to life  making your lemonade for you because of your good looks that you become as sour as the lemon life decided to throw at you for a  change.
• When you a get a leadership position because you are male
• When you get hired because you don’t have an accent
• When you are not given  s**t stuff at work because you are one of them
• When you have no idea what it feels to be different but thinks other are too sensitive of they point out what they find offensive
   
  Don’t get worked up for you have no idea what I have gone through!