The Urban Dictionary defines ‘pretty privilege’ as the condition in which someone gets certain advantages or more opportunities to be successful in life because of how attractive they are.
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'All are equal'
It is said that we are all created equal, but sadly this isn’t always the case in reality, as some people will be appreciated and accepted more than others just based on their looks.
For example, certain musicians have been given a record deal in some music labels, not because of their singing abilities but because they look more attractive and more marketable to the company than other artists with real singing talent who auditioned for the same role.
Most Instagram and TikTok influencers have a huge following as a result of their appearance and this has heaped unnecessary pressure on a lot of others to try and look like them in order to gain acceptance.
Beauty bias
Like most other biases, pretty privilege is something we're all aware of—whether we have experienced it first-hand or not. Yet, it's not often that we are willing to admit it, especially if we're the ones benefiting from it.
Nevertheless, several scholarly surveys have proven that our appearance does in fact have a direct correlation with how well we are received by others, in both social and professional settings. Jon Briggs, a broadcaster and communications coach said:
It has been proven that if someone attractive commits a crime they are less likely to be found guilty and get less severe sentences,
According to hypnotherapist, Andrew Pearson, beauty bias is indeed something that we all have been conditioned to have from birth.
For many years we have seen that certain groups of people have been largely excluded from the cultural landscape, in low art and high art. In advertising, film, TV, art, photography and even writing, people whose skin colour was too dark, whose waistlines were too wide, whose faces were not symmetrical, or whose legs were paralysed struggled to find representation in mainstream media. But if this social conditioning can be learned, then it follows that it can be unlearned
