Appearance matters. In Western society, beauty standards prioritize bodies that are white, thin, symmetrical, and able-bodied. As a result, lookism, which is discrimination against individuals based on their physical appearance, is accepted and even normalized. This impacts individuals with disfigurements, as well as anyone who falls outside of these perceived ideals. Beauty has become accepted as a determinant of worth. In recent years, identity and body positivity-related spaces have worked hard to normalize differences, but until thorough lookism laws are enacted, nothing will change.

For the purpose of this petition, we will focus on disfigurement as it is societally accepted as the antithesis of beauty. Inclusion of the most vulnerable means protection for all.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects against disability-related discrimination, but does not specifically list out which disabilities, conditions, or disorders are covered. The ADA defines disability as: “a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment.” The ADA defines impairment as, “any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more body systems…” The inclusion of cosmetic disfigurement in the ADA is a start, but many people do not consider their physical difference a disfigurement and do not identify as disabled.

Across the globe, the perception of disability is riddled with harmful stereotypes. This stigma leads to discrimination, increased violence, and sexual abuse. There’s also a difference in stigma around visible vs. invisible disabilities and acquired vs. congenital disfigurement. This explains why even though 15% of the world - or 1 billion people - have a disability, people tend to hide their disabilities at work. Roughly one third of the workforce has a disability, but only 39% of those people disclose their disability status to their employer.

Approximately 10% of the global population has a facial disfigurement, which includes scars, blemishes, and disfigurements, yet there is little data on the total number of individuals living with disfigurements in the United States. Many people with disfigurements grow up with experiences of extreme psychological abuse and emotional gaslighting. On the one hand, the constant discrimination due to differences in appearance causes many victims to internalize the abuse and thus, start to believe they deserve the ill treatment they experience. On the other hand, many people are told by society and their peers that they don’t have a disfigurement, that they are just like everyone else. While often well meaning, this only serves to minimize their experience and increase the stigma and discrimination they face. Finally, many individuals with physical differences do not consider their appearance to be abnormal. It is only when others, who have not been exposed to diverse bodies or physical differences point it out, that many with disfigurements begin to internalize it as so. Discrimination against people due to their physical appearance should be illegal regardless of whether or not they are disfigured, or how severe that disfigurement is. Lookism laws would prohibit all discrimination on the basis of physical appearance, so that individuals would not need to identify as either disabled or disfigured in order to receive legal protections. 

There are currently NO federal laws that protect against discrimination based on appearance as long as a person’s civil rights aren’t violated. Disability is covered, as well as extreme obesity as it relates to disability, but unless a person identifies as disabled or falls into another protected class, there is little recourse. Only a handful of communities in the United States have laws against lookism. Washington, DC, Urbana, IL Madison, WI and Santa Cruz, CA have passed laws prohibiting discrimination based on physical appearance. San Francisco and Binghamton, NY have policies related to lookism, but they only include height and weight. At the state level, Michigan is the only state to create a law addressing discrimination based on physical characteristics. It does not include lookism specifically, but it does ban employment discrimination based on a person’s height or weight, as well as other traditionally protected classes (race, gender, disability, etc). Howard County, MD is the only county-level government to have a policy making lookism illegal.

In July 2019, California implemented the Crown Act: Creating a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair, making it the first state to prohibit discrimination against individuals on the basis of non-European hairstyles. While the implementation of the Crown Act is a step in the right direction, we believe that more needs to be done to prevent discrimination on the basis of physical appearance. Appearance-based discrimination needs to be protected by law. Addressing lookism as separate from disability-related protections is crucial for achieving equity both in the workplace and in society at large.

Lookism is still allowed because of the idea that people who have experienced lookism have not experienced the same level of discrimination as other marginalized groups. In order to prevent appearance-based discrimination, we need more local and state governments to implement lookism laws. Please help us today by signing below and please share this petition with your community. Let’s end appearance-based discrimination today.

Did you know that since there are no federal lookism laws in place, state and city-level laws related to discrimination on the basis of appearance are all over the place? 

• Michigan (1976): Protects against discrimination based on weight.
• Santa Cruz (1992/1994): Ordinance bans discrimination based on a variety of factors, including height, weight, and appearance. However, protection allows only “extremely limited remedies.” Does not allow for punitive damages, nor back pay or for emotional harm damages. Also, the size of a class action under a local ordinance would be limited. Developed to protect LGBTQ rights.
• Urbana, Illinois: Protects personal appearance, weight and height.
• Washington DC: Protects “personal appearance: means a person’s outward appearance, regardless of sex, which includes an individual’s bodily condition (including deformities) or characteristics, manner or style of dress, and manner or style of personal grooming, including hair style and beards.”
• Madison, Wisconsin: Physical appearance means the outward appearance of any person, irrespective of sex, with regard to hairstyle, beards, manner of dress, weight, height, facial features, or other aspects of appearance. It shall not relate, however, to the requirement of cleanliness, uniforms, or prescribed attire, if and when such requirement is uniformly applied for admittance to a public accommodation or to employees in a business establishment for a reasonable business purpose. The practice of providing equal opportunities in housing, employment, public accommodations and City facilities to persons without regard to sex, race, religion, color, national origin or ancestry, citizenship status, age, handicap/disability, marital status, source of income, arrest record, conviction record, less than honorable discharge, physical appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic identity, political beliefs, familial status, student status, domestic partnership status, receipt of assistance, unemployment or status as a victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking is a desirable goal of the City of Madison and a matter of legitimate concern to its government.
• San Francisco: Protects size discrimination. 

Thank you to Zara Stone, author of Killer Looks: The Forgotten History of Plastic Surgery in Prisons, for assistance with data.

Petition co-authored by: Ariel Henley and Nathalia Freitas

Image: Anthony Gerace