[6-26] "Normal"

Earlier today, David Brooks published an NYT column regarding discrimination that occurs to less attractive people.

It's certainly a topic that gets too little press.

But Brooks is right; one does not need to rely on studies to sense that beauty plays an important role in how lives pan out. In fact, Brooks is probably underestimating its role, perhaps because we don't have great ways of quantifying it. The studies he cites are all fair game, but we all can feel the subtle ways social dynamics are bent due to aspects of comeliness associated with our appearances; if you question this, just go out on a Friday night.

Also I just saw Netflix's "Tall Girl" (2019), which relates a young woman in high school whose struggle is associated with height (she is 6'1.5"). I paid attention for ~30 minutes, but the themes are clear: in dating, height appears valuable for men, a liability for women.

Again, we are looking at some fundamental physical constant that influences how well we treat another person.

The tall Swedish foreign exchange student is lauded for his height; for the same reason, the female protagonist is made fun of incessantly.

And so this all relates deeply with photography, particularly in portraits.

In a nutshell, beauty is overemphasized in photography, at a great loss. What we all care more about is if a person look comfortable, with themselves, and capable of this world. This matters so much — I'd happily veto beauty to achieve this.