If Looks Could Kill

This blog is proving to be a therapeutic medium, but unfortunately, due to the fact that it's a public listing and all, not quite as therapeutic as it could be.

To start off, yesterday was just a day gone completely awry. A job for my fiance that we'd had our sights and hopes set on didn't pan out, which was just devastating. Then my dog was attacked by another dog, completely unprovoked, and has a hole in his face. But anyway, I understand that with the downturned economy and the fact that the finance industry is essentially bleeding jobs right now, it's hard to get an advance offer. But the company was actively recruiting, and the Boy was the most qualified. I mean, think of it this way: actual real life work/managerial experience vs. part-time student employment; 3.93 GPA vs. your standard 3.5 GPA; work for the Burkenroad Reports, a serious analyst publication and candidacy for the exclusive Darwin-Fenner program at Tulane's internationally acclaimed Freeman School vs. UMiami jocks.

So what gives?

My only conclusion is that Boy was indeed overqualified, and that worked against him. They probably figured that he would have bad habits they'd have to break, or that since he had significant experience, he'd be okay if they didn't offer the opportunity to him. And companies that recruit straight out of college look for blank slates. Young, pretty, brainwashable blank slates, so blank that they can be molded into anything at all. Lumps of colorful clay.

Unfortunately, although Boy is a malleable medium, he's not quite as colorful as the bright-eyed, rosy-cheeked fresh meat that is now his competition. A little older, more mature, heavier-set, and without a doubt shorter, aesthetic plays its part as well. I've always found it interesting in my psych classes that the better looking, more fit people of the world would receive preference, even if a sloppier candidate was more qualified. Obviously, you would want your future leader that you're taking the time to groom to exude authority and project a certain type of image, but how much more brains do you need to beat out beauty?

Don't get me wrong -- I think Boy is adorable, his eyes are the sweetest shade of brown, he's smarter than I give him credit for, and I just think it's funny I get to mess around with him about his height and weight. But objectively, I know he's no European Adonis or statuesque swimmer, and to some, consciously or subconsciously, that matters to some people. No one wants to introduce their CEO, the Hobbit. And though Boy is far from Hobbit-like, the principle is still the same. Everyone likes their figureheads pretty. Now where does that leave the average American? Beauty is a more lethal weapon in the arsenal than intelligence in a society that values aesthetic, connections, and power more so than qualifications. As we grow fatter and lazier, the powerful and/or wealthy people that have the leisure time to spend on their appearance and first impressions get yet another advantage of standing out. Zoolanders of the world, your time is now.