By Heather LaFeber
Transforming from an ugly duckling in high school to a beautiful swan in college is not how they make it out to be in fairytales. Granted, the attention and free drinks were not without their charms at first. In fact, I craved the attention because it was new and exciting to me, completely different from the complete indifference I was treated with in high school. I could get whatever I wanted now, simply because of this wonderful blessing of attractiveness.
But as I ventured in to the professional world, my beauty became somewhat of a curse. I am an ambitious person with a drive to excel professionally, but I began to notice people questioning my credibility and professional potential. When I received a promotion at my work, one of my co-workers even said to me, “I’m sure the interview was in a room full of men, right?” As if a beautiful woman couldn’t possibly be independently intelligent and successful by her own merit.
As I continue to struggle with the stereotype that beautiful women are stupid or flighty or unreliable and unprofessional, I also continue to use my beauty to my advantage. But with the good, comes the bad and it is something I must learn to overcome. I take these stereotypes and use them as my motivation to break the mold and prove to the world that beautiful women can be smart and successful too.
I hear you girl, beauty is as bad as it is good.
If that picture with this post is you, may I offer some advice.
You are pretty, so why do you wear so much make-up (let your natural beauty shine!!!). That may be one of the reasons you are not taken seriously.
studies have shown (I cannot find the one I am talking about, they talked about it on tv shows) that women who obviously spend “time” primping (applying make-up, straightening hair, etc..) are not as good of works so a women that rolls out of bed , throws her hair in a ponytail and heads to work does.
The same theory goes for the kind of clothes you wear. Women that wear provocative clothes (low neck lines (you have boob crack showing), short skirts, etc..) are not looked at as if they have brain. At least until they prove themselves (which is harder for them). Or like in your case, you may not get the kudos for a promotion that you deserve because co-works think you “earned it alright,lol” (if you know what I mean).
I know it may not apply to every women but it is something to think about next time you are applying for a job or getting ready for work!
P.S. I am sure you were not as ugly in high school as you thought you were (considering how you look now). I think everyone thinks they were ugly in high school, lol.
Heather – you would have been a perfect interview subject for my documentary about the blessings and curses of being beautiful. Your story is very typical of what I found when interviewing beautiful women. Check it out – http://www.beautydocumentary.com.