Argumentative Essay On Physical Appearances

Although expressions such as, “don’t judge a book by its cover,” or, “it’s not the wrapping paper that matters, it is what’s inside that counts,” are well known to numerous people and encourage perceptions of others to go beyond physical appearances, countless rapid judgments are formulated daily based on physical appearance alone. While these virtually instant assessments may be necessary for primitive aspects of human survival, should they be embraced in every situation? The justice system proclaims equal, fair, and just processing in all criminal cases while the Sixth Amendment confirms the right to an impartial jury. However, behavioral research continues to discover evidence that people may not have the subconscious ability to be completely
Studies have found that even children are treated differently according to their appearance and this bias is present at an early developmental level. When asked about their peers, children (4-6 years) were found to favor attractive children more than unattractive children. Particularly, unattractive male children were perceived as demonstrating antisocial behaviors amongst their peers. Contrastingly, attractive children were thought of as popular and independent (Dion & Berscheid, 1974). Additionally, adults have displayed favoritism toward attractive children compared to unattractive children in which circumstances are identical. When children’s negative behavior was identical, the adult perceived the transgression and unattractive child more negatively than the attractive child (Dion 1972). Essentially, with studies discovering biases established on physical appearances at early developmental ages in children conceivably leading to marginalization, thus may ultimately contribute to the progression of deviant behavior. Although this relationship could be possible, it would likely be a weak correlation. Naturally, additional research is needed in this