Should ugly people get affirmative action?

The Horn
September 2, 2011
Jessica Huff

A UT Economics professor argues there are prejudices against ugly people, making them discriminated against and just as qualified to receive affirmative action.

Fact: Being attractive helps you earn more money, obtain loan approvals and find more handsome, high-income spouses – or at least this is what University of Texas at Austin economics professor Daniel Hamermesh says in his new book, Beauty Pays. Professor Hamermesh also says that, hey, if you’re ugly, you may be qualified for affirmative action. In an editorial for The New York Times, Hamermesh cites a study claiming that “an American worker who was among the bottom one-seventh in looks, as assessed by randomly chosen observes, earned 10 to 15 percent less per year than a similar worker whose looks were assessed in the top one-third – a lifetime difference, in a typical case, of about $230,000.”

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