My extraordinary good looks are a burden I have learned to bear bravely.
All seriousness aside, I am currently going thru something possibly relevant. I have to wear my glasses (no contacts) for a month in preparation for cataract surgery. My glasses are pretty thick. Not exactly disfiguring, but noticeable nonetheless. It does seem that people treat me differently.
The reason I am looking forward to the surgery is that I will not have to wear glasses or contacts again. My eyes will look better all the time, not just while wearing contacts.
Being good-looking is definitely an advantage in engineering. Yes, the super-logical engineers think they are evaluating coworkers only on their performance… but in practice, it’s the good-looking, pleasant-to-be-around engineers who get tapped for higher-paying positions. Regardless of whether they’re the better engineers.
Some of the better engineers I’ve worked with have completely disregarded their appearance – whether slovenly, out-of-shape, poor fashion choices, smelly, whatever. Absolutely no-one says “well, Greg reeks but he’s aces at PSV calculations so we should make him to group leader.” Instead, it’s “everyone likes Dave; he’ll be manager.” (Dave was a homecoming king. We made fun of him for having been a homecoming king. But he got to be manager, then business manager.)
Now, I have seen issues for good-looking young women – they have difficulty having their engineering skills noticed at all. I think most move on into management or sales, instead of “pure” engineering.
According to my brother, looksism is firmly in foce in the legal profession too. Don’t know about academia.
