It was reasonable to hope that focus on, and consideration of, physical appearances might have waned over the long course of the Covid crisis and its work-from-home side effect. Despite many months of remote office interactions, a widespread loosening of fashion conventions and virtual meetings distorted by electronic screens, lookism — discrimination based on a lack of perceived attractiveness — seems to be a hardy animal.
Based on a sample of 2,000 office-based staff working remotely, U.K. law firm Slater and Gordon found last summer that, contrary to expectations, bias based on physical appearance seems to have weathered the pandemic unscathed.
In fact, it may have even mutated. A third of both men and women respondents said that, because of the pandemic’s depressive effect on the job market, they had “put up with” comments about the way they look during video calls that they would not have tolerated in person. And in another new manifestation of an old scourge, more than a quarter of women reported being asked to dress more provocatively for online meetings, while a third said they were told to use more makeup or fix up their hair.
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