Is Beauty an Advantage at Work?

Is Beauty an Advantage on the Job for Women in Cuba?

By María Elena Balán Sainz
January 15, 2018

Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.

Appearance, subject to canons of mediated beauty, defines the work possibilities of women. Photo: Bar Restaurant La Catedral / Facebook.

It is true that today, the image of the person seeking a job competes in the employment market, and I am not talking about Europe or other countries of the so-called first world, also in Cuba when we read an advertisement for employees they put as requirements that they be young, tall, good-looking and white, because there such a discrimination is exposed clearly. 

For those employers, especially restaurants, bars, coffee shops, places where tourists are catered to, voluptuousness and roundness of the female body have are picked first when making the choice or is it casting? Yes, because it seems that she was a selection for an artistic role in television or cinema.

They know that women constitute a priority target for advertising. These ads highlight a gender stereotype , in which it is indispensable to be young, beautiful and slender . In other words, they persist in the idea that a girl can live off her beauty and her body and leave aside her intelligence.

The image, the appearance are subject to canons of beauty mediated by the industry itself, greatly constrains job possibilities, especially in those areas of work that imply public exposure. The accent is not placed on the professional capacity of the women, but only their physical aspect is emphasized.

And, the worst is that you can not do much or anything against those who do not hire you because you are ugly, older, or black, because you will not be able to prove it, as employers argue other subjectivities which are hard to prove.

Among the requirements sought are age and it is spelled out that they prefer youth to experience; marital status, because being single and without family responsibilities or children in your care represent points in your favor; be a beautiful and attractive young woman and send a photo in a resume that may not say much professional about her qualifications, but a profile in which beauty stands out. 

In advertisements, published mainly on job websites, you can see the age range that employers ask for: 80 percent of them are up to 35 years of age.

They are not interested in those who are called geeks, that is, enthusiastic to the point of obsession with knowledge, knowers and lovers of technology issues, or those who do not have that name but are cultured, educated, are characterized by their seriousness to work and are recognized for their performance and productivity.

The search for girls with a pronounced bust, a narrow waist, a beautiful face, slenderness and marked flirtatiousness that make the client’s neck turn is setting a trend. It leaves those who do not have those attributes at a disadvantage, but above all, encourages discrimination and strengthens the stereotype of women as an advertising and sexist object.