When Marnie and Hannah discuss "pretty-person jobs" on "Girls," it's funny. In real-life, hiring someone based purely on their looks -- unless it's for a modeling gig -- sounds fairly awful. But a "beautiful people-only" job site is about to become a reality.
Beautifulpeople.com, a dating website that only accepts conventionally attractive members and even has door guards at in-person events to turn away people who don't meet the site's aesthetic standards, is expanding its services. The site will now feature a recruitment element for employers who are looking to hire "good-looking staff." According to Mashable:
Employers will have a dedicated business profile and be able to pursue other members who are looking for a job. Members will also be able to look through job listings and apply directly to companies.
"An honest employer will tell you that it pays to hire good-looking staff," said Greg Hodge, managing director of BeautifulPeople.com, in a statement. "Attractive people tend to make a better first impression on clients, win more business and earn more."
Studies have shown that conventionally attractive, thin people already earn higher salaries and have an advantage because they are perceived to be smarter and more capable than those who aren't as pretty.
Jezebel's Laura Beck pointed out that BeautifulPeople.com's beautiful people job site could be labelled as discriminatory. "I know ugly people are not a protected class for employment," she wrote, "but since the site's definition of attractive appears very narrow -- able-bodied, thin, etc. -- I wonder if this could open the site and employers up to lawsuits from people who don't fit those rigid standards."
The entire concept seems problematic to us, so we'll be interested to see if employers will actually use BeautifulPeople.com to find prospective staffers. The majority of jobs require an employee with many more strengths than just a pretty face.
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