Going For The Look Research Paper

Words: 856
Pages: 4

Sean Chang 4 Expos Blk 7 5/23/16 Going for the Look The “American Dream”, which describes a life of stability and prosperity, unfortunately does not apply to all Americans. Not every worker is rewarded the same opportunity to succeed in life and provide for their families. A major reason for this inequality is the practices used by businesses and companies in order to advance in a competitive society. They select only certain people to promote their image and in doing so, they often do it at the expense of the average worker. Today, discrimination against workers on the basis of sex, age, gender, or race continues to be a problem and is commonplace in many parts of the world. Discriminatory practices used by companies …show more content…
Companies do this because they want to promote their image and employ the “best” workers who will represent them. This often means hiring the most attractive, talented, and appealing workers for the job. According to an article called “Going for the Look, but Risking Discrimination”, “From Abercrombie to the cosmetics giant L’Oreal, from the sleek W hotel chain to Gap, businesses are openly seeking workers who are sexy, sleek or simply good-looking.” Company-owners argue that this is a smart approach because it creates an inviting atmosphere that attracts customers. However, it also brings up issues of discrimination as employers hire people based on race, color, sex orientation, gender, disability, nationality, belief, and age. For instance, my mother Maribeth Chang, an Asian immigrant who has been working at an insurance company for over twenty years, has experienced discrimination firsthand. “I’ve witnessed ageism in my current job. Younger individuals typically get higher wages because bosses assume that they are more energetic and productive.” Despite her being a long-time employee with more knowledge and experience, younger people in her workplace still receive more benefits. This lack of equality is affecting several minorities as they are unable to get the same opportunity to succeed in life even though they may have the skills to do so. This is a prime example of how …show more content…
It is scary to know that a person can be threatened by his or her coworkers due to cultural differences or how they look. Discrimination causes these harmful relationships and it may lead to the disruption of communication and the functioning of the business. An article written by Anthony Stith states that, “It creates an atmosphere of resentment and hostility. It destroys the incentive of all employees to perform at their best...This destroys competitiveness, creativity and enthusiasm.” This is terrible because minorities who need their jobs may be forced to work in a hostile environment with undesirable conditions. In addition to this, discrimination has negative effects on society. A major concern is this nation’s skyrocketing unemployment rate. Certain biases by companies is a key factor to why so many people remain unemployed. In an interview conducted by PBS with research economist, Nela Richardson informs us that “White Americans have an unemployment rate of about 5.7 percent and African Americans are more than twice that figure at 12.1 percent.” This disparity will only hurt society in the long-run as jobs become more scarce and diversity