Xpat: Taiwan's English Arts, Culture and Travel Magazine for Teachers & Expats

From the Desk

The definition of 'Lookism': discrimination against or prejudice towards others based on their appearance 3

The average hourly earnings of men with "below-average looks" and "above-average looks" compared to the national average in North America respectively: -8.9% and +5.4% 1

The average hourly earnings of women with "below-average looks" and "above-average looks" in Shanghai: -31.1% and +9.7% 1

The personality traits that people to attribute to 'attractive' people based solely on their appearance: successful, contended, pleasant, intelligent, sociable, exciting, creative and diligent 2

Marilyn Monroe's dress size in the 1950s: 16 (approximately the same as a size 12 today) 4

Catherine Zeta-Jones's dress size: 6 4

Percentage of women dieting at any given time: 44 4

Percentage of American adults who think they're obese: 19.8 4

Percentage of American adults who are obese: 30.5 4

Number of new anorexia and bulimia patients each year in the U.S. according to Naomi Wolf's feminist classic The Beauty Myth: 1,000,000 5

Percentage of American women suffering from anorexia or bulimia (same source): 60 5

Factor by which one study found the above statistics to be overstated respectively: 13.3 and 120 5

Number of Hairdressing Industry employees in Britain: 180,000 6

Total number of professionals working in skin care salons, nail salons, and barber shops in the U.S. in 2003: 1,600,000 7

Percent increase in salon professionals working in the U.S. between 1999 and 2003: 24 7

The labor market situation of salon professionals according to one beauty school directory: There's a "severe shortage of licensed salon professionals" 7

The worlds first and second largest exporters in the "Beauty and Jewelry Industry" respectively: China and India (39% of global exports) 8

The world's first and second largest exporters in the "Apparel and Fashion Industry" respectively: China and Pakistan (41% of global exports) 8

The apparent center of the fashion world: China

Top three plastic surgery procedures in the U.S. in 2005, and the surgeries performed: liposuction (324,000), nose reshaping (298,000), and breast augmentation (291,000)

Total spent on cosmetic plastic surgery in the U.S. in 2005: $9.4 billion

Total number of cosmetic surgery procedures performed in the U.S. in 2005: 10.2 million

Percent change from 2004: +11

The Greek goddess of beauty: Aphrodite

How she was born: Kronos castrated his father, Ouranos, and threw his penis into the sea which caused it to froth, and from the foam Aphrodite was born 9

Sources