The Beautiful and the Damned

This morning, Fox News discussed a new study stating that girls who are pretty are more likely to be "bullied," or treated unfairly, by adults (teachers) as well as peers. On the other hand, attractive guys are supposedly less likely to be bullied by both peers and adults.

A not-so-subtle detail is that these were guys and girls who perceived themselves as attractive. I'm not sure how much that actually matters, but I'm going to assume they actually were attractive, and that they are confident rather than cocky. (For a little perspective: when I say "pretty" or "attractive" in this post, I mean well above average!)

Anyway, the whole thing got me thinking back to the story about those college girls who got kicked off a Florida flight for some altercation with another passenger, who was not kicked off the flight. They argued this disciplinary inequity was because they were "too pretty," and that the flight crew discriminated against them because of this fact.

While I thought that was amusingly unlikely (they looked like the obnoxious type), I do know there are plenty of cases where individuals will automatically respect pretty girls less, and thus treat them unfairly as a result. I see that as more likely with female teachers, peers, etc, than males. I can also see female teachers, peers, etc treating an attractive male better. So, it may all go back to the jealous-stereotyping approaches that many women (and some men) take towards attractive women.

Men look at them and think sex. Women look at them and think "bimbitch." (Bimbo + bitch, and yes, I made that up.)

I don't know... I'm not sure I will ever believe it is tougher being the pretty girl in school than being the chubby, frumpy girl in school... but does being too pretty have risks of its own? Ugly girls get taunted and rejected, and pretty girls may never be accepted for more than just that. Beautiful people are often misunderstood, I know that much: bitchy, dumb, conceited, shallow...

Maybe being average is the best way to go. Maybe then, people can't really hate you, hurt you, use you, or even accept you due to assumptions based solely on looks (whether good or bad.) You can't be hated or loved for all the wrong reasons. I read somewhere that pretty people have a higher risk of long term unhappiness, though they may be "happier" in the short run---basically, while their beauty lasts. Like fame and riches, is beauty falsely equated with happiness?

Thoughts???