The definition of ‘Lookism’: discrimination against or prejudice towards others based on their appearance

The average hourly earnings of men with “below-average looks” and “above-average looks” compared to the national average in North America respectively: -8.9% and +5.4%

The average hourly earnings of women with “below-average looks” and “above-average looks” in Shanghai: -31.1% and +9.7%

The personality traits that people to attribute to ‘attractive’ people based solely on their appearance: successful, contended, pleasant, intelligent, sociable, exciting, creative and diligent

Marilyn Monroe’s dress size in the 1950s: 16 (approximately the same as a size 12 today)

Catherine Zeta-Jones’s dress size: 6

Percentage of women dieting at any given time: 44

Percentage of American adults who think they’re obese: 19.8

Percentage of American adults who are obese: 30.5

Number of new anorexia and bulimia patients each year in the U.S. according to Naomi Wolf’s feminist classic The Beauty Myth: 1,000,000

Percentage of American women suffering from anorexia or bulimia (same source): 60

Factor by which one study found the above statistics to be overstated respectively: 13.3 and 120

Number of Hairdressing Industry employees in Britain: 180,000

Total number of professionals working in skin care salons, nail salons, and barber shops in the U.S. in 2003: 1,600,000

Percent increase in salon professionals working in the U.S. between 1999 and 2003: 24

The labor market situation of salon professionals according to one beauty school directory: There’s a “severe shortage of licensed salon professionals”

The worlds first and second largest exporters in the “Beauty and Jewelry Industry” respectively: China and India (39% of global exports)

The world’s first and second largest exporters in the “Apparel and Fashion Industry” respectively: China and Pakistan (41% of global exports) 8

The apparent center of the fashion world: China

Top three plastic surgery procedures in the U.S. in 2005, and the surgeries performed: liposuction (324,000), nose reshaping (298,000), and breast augmentation (291,000)

Total spent on cosmetic plastic surgery in the U.S. in 2005: $9.4 billion

Total number of cosmetic surgery procedures performed in the U.S. in 2005: 10.2 million

Percent change from 2004: +11

The Greek goddess of beauty: Aphrodite

How she was born: Kronos castrated his father, Ouranos, and threw his penis into the sea which caused it to froth, and from the foam Aphrodite was born

The post From the Desk 07.03 appeared first on XpatMatt.