# Do extraordinarily good-looking people have an easier time in life, in your opinion? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 29, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-extraordinarily-good-looking-people-have-an-easier-time-in-life-in-your-opinion/594499 "2011-08-29T15:29:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-extraordinarily-good-looking-people-have-an-easier-time-in-life-in-your-opinion/594499/41 "2011-08-29T22:40:33Z")
I think it can be a double edged sword for beautiful women. It’s easy to dismiss them as being nothing more than beautiful. The winner of this year’s" Masterchef" show was a former beauty queen and was constantly being belittled by her competitors (mostly in “confession-room” clips) as getting special treatment because of her looks and not being actually deservant of her weekly wins. In general, though, easier. People are just nicer to good looking people. I’m guilty of it myself. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-extraordinarily-good-looking-people-have-an-easier-time-in-life-in-your-opinion/594499/42 "2011-08-30T01:58:12Z")
Depends what you mean by “easier”. There are plenty of prom queens with nothing else going for them who wind up as knocked up housewives to some high school football star working at the local mill. But yeah, it doesn’t hurt to be good looking. Do I get jobs because I’m the best possible candidate? I’m pretty smart, but it also helps that I’m not short (taller than 5’9"), have a full head of hair and look good in a suit. > [@The Second Stone](#): > > I am an extremely handsome man, and let me tell you, it makes a difference. And I get better looking as I get older and more distinguished. Complete strangers often come up to me after I step into a line in front of them and say “just fuck yourself, you entitled son-of-a-bitch!” And knowing that I will shortly find some privacy, lube and a mirror, I smile and say knowingly, “my, you have good taste, but how do you know my mother?” That supermarket door opened for you because it was an automatic door. But it WOULD have opened for you anyway because you are so good looking. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-extraordinarily-good-looking-people-have-an-easier-time-in-life-in-your-opinion/594499/43 "2011-08-30T02:07:25Z")
I think extraordinary people of any type actually have a harder time. But I do think looks can ease your way in life. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-extraordinarily-good-looking-people-have-an-easier-time-in-life-in-your-opinion/594499/44 "2011-08-30T05:06:32Z")
I find it hard to vote because the people I have considered ‘extraordinarily’ good-looking in my life, don’t often seem to be what the people around me consider exceptional. Certainly when I find someone breathtakingly gorgeous they have an advantage with _me_. In general I think good looks are a net advantage in life. However there is the ‘double edged sword’ aspect, and that is more true for women than for men. Especially for girls who develop early and look like beautiful women in their early teens; that is a mind fuck that can affect you negatively for your entire life. I’m thankful every day I didn’t really finish puberty until I was 17. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-extraordinarily-good-looking-people-have-an-easier-time-in-life-in-your-opinion/594499/45 "2011-08-30T11:47:22Z")
There’s either a different two-edged sword (or just a behavior of the same sword **rhubarbarin’s** talking about in that it’s rare that uber beauty is long-lived. I’ve seen plenty of 40 year olds that look like 60 year old raisins. Years and Years of hard partying and sun worship take their toll. There are the occasional Sophia Lorens out there that buck the trend, but they’re few and far between. And on the male side, _the most interesting man in the world_ LOOKS like hammered shit. It’s the voice and perception of greatness that carries him…that, and chicks dig scars and mileage. I’ve seen some of in in the Motorcycle circles I ride in. Rough and Rugged = windburn and miles, usually with no safety gear. Meanwhile, I’m over here, poindextered up, [ATGATT](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ATGATT), and pasty white. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-extraordinarily-good-looking-people-have-an-easier-time-in-life-in-your-opinion/594499/46 "2011-08-30T11:47:36Z")
beautiful people certainly have advantages. But they have problems caused by those advantages as well. So there are pluses and minuses. A well-adjusted, ethical beautiful person will have a much smoother life. But all those open doors make it harder for someone to be well-adjusted and well-balanced. Marilyn Monroe is perhaps the poster child for someone who wasn’t able to handle the fame. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-extraordinarily-good-looking-people-have-an-easier-time-in-life-in-your-opinion/594499/47 "2011-08-30T12:10:12Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > I find it hard to vote because the people I have considered ‘extraordinarily’ good-looking in my life, don’t often seem to be what the people around me consider exceptional. Certainly when I find someone breathtakingly gorgeous they have an advantage with _me_. > > In general I think good looks are a net advantage in life. However there is the ‘double edged sword’ aspect, and that is more true for women than for men. Especially for girls who develop early and look like beautiful women in their early teens; that is a mind fuck that can affect you negatively for your entire life. I’m thankful every day I didn’t really finish puberty until I was 17. Having never been a pretty girl, I have difficulty relating to this. What’s the mind fuck and how does it negatively affect one’s life? I don’t question that it does but I’d like to know how. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-extraordinarily-good-looking-people-have-an-easier-time-in-life-in-your-opinion/594499/48 "2011-08-30T12:28:26Z")
Never being alone, never having to pay for drinks (a gross over approximation of a bigger effect), not having to lean on other skills to get ahead. A narcisistic assumption that you can get away with more crap. (No matter how good lookin’ she is, there’s someone out there sick of her shit). There’s the anecdotal limp fish in bed syndrome (I don’t have to put forth effort, they’re here for my body.) Are these stereotypes accurate? I dunno. I don’t have the resources or opportunity to research, but just because racial profiling is distasteful, doesn’t mean it’s incorrect. (dons flame retardant underwear) I knew a stunningly attractive manwhore growing up and his view of women was EXTREMELY misogynistic. They were idle playthings to toy with and throw away. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-extraordinarily-good-looking-people-have-an-easier-time-in-life-in-your-opinion/594499/49 "2011-08-30T12:43:46Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > It has not been my experience that attractive women find it easier to be taken seriously in the business world. I know both from observation and anecdote that my baby sister, in particular, has a much more difficult time as an engineer because she is hot, busty, and looks a decade younger than she is. So you think that if she were the same person in all regards, _but_ notably less attractive, she would be in a _better_ place in her career? Really? ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-extraordinarily-good-looking-people-have-an-easier-time-in-life-in-your-opinion/594499/50 "2011-08-30T12:44:51Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > I think it is a double edged sword for the extremely beautiful. On the one hand you generally get cut more slack, get more attention, have a wider range of potential dates to choose from, etc. On the other hand you have fewer people taking you seriously, get more _unwanted_ attention, don’t necessarily develop other skills you would have if you hadn’t been born beautiful, etc. Yes. And, I think, truer for women than men. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-extraordinarily-good-looking-people-have-an-easier-time-in-life-in-your-opinion/594499/51 "2011-08-30T13:34:53Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Bolding mine; I think that part is a wishful-thinking myth. My judgment is that, _other things being equal_, an attractive person is taken _more_ seriously–it’s easier for them to get attention for their ideas in the first place, and people are more inclined to want to agree with or please them. > > The other stuff is true, but not much of a counterweight to all the advantages. I think that when you are talking about an attractive person, and someone with a face only a mother can love, you are right. When you are talking about an extraordinarily attractive person vs. a simply attractive person I think a lot of people have a hard time even listening when someone is really just gorgeous. I’ve only met a handful of these people in my life, they aren’t at all common. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-extraordinarily-good-looking-people-have-an-easier-time-in-life-in-your-opinion/594499/52 "2011-08-30T14:09:36Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > So you think that if she were the same person in all regards, _but_ notably less attractive, she would be in a _better_ place in her career? > > Really? SHE has said as much to me. Though I think in large part it’s because she looks so young. She’s in her early 30s but still looks barely out of high school, which causes some persons not to take her seriously. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-extraordinarily-good-looking-people-have-an-easier-time-in-life-in-your-opinion/594499/53 "2011-08-30T15:07:46Z")
I’ve read that the only advantage in getting ahead for a man is to be tall. A tall man! The world bows and scrapes to the tall man, whether he looks like Johnny Depp or the Frankenstein monster. I don’t get it myself, I never thought a tall douchebag gained any points merely by being tall, but I’m short myself. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-extraordinarily-good-looking-people-have-an-easier-time-in-life-in-your-opinion/594499/54 "2011-08-30T15:41:28Z")
I have actually been on both sides of the female equation. I can state categorically that unattractive is easier. Attractive is great if you are looking for a receptionist position, or if you want to be used like a rubber sex doll by a rich man as long as he puts a gold ring around your finger first. But don’t give him a child, or your body will change in ways that he considers to be a breach of contract. And if you don’t give him a child, all the members of his family and social set will take this as proof that you are not a “real” wife and feel free to treat you like crap. If you want to have a real career, or even get an education, you need to look intelligent, not attractive. And especially if you happen to be blonde, people will assume that attractive female = stupid. In fact, if you don’t submissively show signs of stupidity that they can mock with their friends, they will become rabidly determined to prove you stupid, and will jump on everything you say, trying to twist it into a stupid configuration. And if that doesn’t work, they’ll just make stuff up about you. Mothers will not want you to date their sons, unless they are plastic-y retail addicts and you show a willingness to be their lifetime dress up doll. Shallow men will want to wear you to parties, and will bribe your co-workers to tell them what you are looking for in a man so that they can pretend to be what/who you want. They will gladly lie and use words like “love”, “devotion”, and “forever” to trick you into trusting them and entering their bedrooms. Women will particularly hate you on sight. Most women will assume that you have no values or taste, and want to make their men cheat with you just to prove you can (and maybe get him to buy you something that he won’t buy for them.) There can be no question that my career took off when I started dressing in the doudiest possible manner for work. And when I gained weight, I suddenly became management material. That was also about the time that my hair darkened to brown. It sucked, and I’m glad it’s over. I’d like to be strong and agile again, but not at the price of being beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-extraordinarily-good-looking-people-have-an-easier-time-in-life-in-your-opinion/594499/55 "2011-08-30T15:47:33Z")
My daughter, (a competitive ice skater in her younger days) has been stopped by the cops for traffic infractions at least six times. Five times by guy cops, and one time by a girl cop. Traffic tickets issued: zero from the guy cops, and one from the girl cop. Wonder why that was. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-extraordinarily-good-looking-people-have-an-easier-time-in-life-in-your-opinion/594499/56 "2011-08-30T16:03:34Z")
I suppose I am considered goodlooking, meaning I am tall, have all my hair, am in shape, and dress well. I definitely get away with more than I could if I was less attractive. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-extraordinarily-good-looking-people-have-an-easier-time-in-life-in-your-opinion/594499/57 "2011-08-30T16:38:14Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > I’ll throw my lot in with those who say good-looking women have plenty of advantages while good-looking guys don’t really get a leg up that much. > > If you buy into the notion that guys do most of the hiring and most of the managing, why are they going to give a good-looking guy an extra break ( **Skald** notwithstanding)? I think you’re making this too much about sexual attraction. People are conditioned to think Handsome Man is also Intelligent Competent Man. Even heterosexual men will respond better to sales pitches from better looking men, all things being equal. And even if your job is operating a weather station in the remote arctic circle, you’ve still gotta sell someone the notion that you’re the best operator for the job. Obviously if less good-looking guy has a degree in meteorology and was trained in the military on the equipment, while the good looking guy thinks radar is a website, less good looking guy will get the job. But all things being equal handsome guy has an advantage. Not because the hiring guy wants to sleep with him, but because of his unconscious conflation of strong good looks with competence. > [@Blaster\_Master](#): > > I was speaking mostly from my personal experiences rather than using celebrities as celebrities will tend to be more beautiful in general. That said, though there are certainly more attractive men in Hollywood than in the general public, it also seems to me that you’re more likely to see unattractive men with legitimate acting talent than unattractive women. Similarly, I’m always seeing gorgeous women in movies who can’t act their way out of a paper bag, but I can only think of a few good looking guys in movies that aren’t at least passable actors. > > Athletes are give or take too, sure you have a Brady who does well and is generally considered good looking, but you get plenty of average or even downright ugly guys who also perform at the same level. And, certainly, compared to a lot of other quarterbacks, I would say the Brady is relatively effeminate, though my view might be skewed because I would stab him in the neck repeatedly with a rusty spoon if I ever met him. I chose celebrities because they are people who’s looks we’re all familiar with. I don’t know you and can’t speak to your personal experience. But I agree with **Argent Towers** that the only women attracted exclusively to really effeminate men tend to be younger teens/tweens. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-extraordinarily-good-looking-people-have-an-easier-time-in-life-in-your-opinion/594499/58 "2011-08-30T16:53:33Z")
> [@Daylate](#): > > My daughter, (a competitive ice skater in her younger days) has been stopped by the cops for traffic infractions at least six times. Five times by guy cops, and one time by a girl cop. Traffic tickets issued: zero from the guy cops, and one from the girl cop. Wonder why that was. The guy cops stopped her because they wanted to talk to her. The girl cop stopped her because she had comitted an actual infraction. You see them letting her off, I see them using their position for a chance to chat up the pretty girl. The real question is, would she have been delayed in her travels if she wasn’t so pretty? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-extraordinarily-good-looking-people-have-an-easier-time-in-life-in-your-opinion/594499/59 "2011-08-30T16:55:05Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > It sucked, and I’m glad it’s over. I’d like to be strong and agile again, but not at the price of being beautiful. I went through a lot of that. Thank God for middle age. Also, looking young doesn’t really help. A good looking woman who looks 30 (even if she is 24) is a different animal than a good looking woman who looks 24 (even if she is 30). ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-extraordinarily-good-looking-people-have-an-easier-time-in-life-in-your-opinion/594499/60 "2011-08-30T17:16:15Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > I went through a lot of that. Thank God for middle age. > > Also, looking young doesn’t really help. A good looking woman who looks 30 (even if she is 24) is a different animal than a good looking woman who looks 24 (even if she is 30). LOL! I looked 25 at age 12, and still looked 25 at 34. Worst of all worlds. Hard to move up in the corporate world when you look like an intern. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-extraordinarily-good-looking-people-have-an-easier-time-in-life-in-your-opinion/594499.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-extraordinarily-good-looking-people-have-an-easier-time-in-life-in-your-opinion/594499.md?page=4)