Why Is it Acceptable for the Media to Judge People Based on Their Appearance?

You would never accept a job where harsh comments and bullying were part and parcel of the job but it seems we expect celebrities to because they have a better life than the majority of us.

You don't have to search hard to find established and popular news websites judging celebrities based on their appearance.

Let's take a look at two scenarios:

1) A bully stands in a schoolyard and makes nasty comments about a fellow pupil's appearance.

2) A news website posts an article making comments about a celebrity looking 'unkempt' while out shopping.

You would probably agree with me when I say that the first scenario is bullying, it is unacceptable and should be stopped. Most of us would probably do what we could to put a stop to it also.

Yet, many of us standby and let scenario two happen on a daily basis on a very global scale.

On Wednesday Daily Mail Online published an article on their website asking readers to take a poll to judge which Celebrity Big Brother contestant looked worse without makeup: Katie Price of Alicia Douvall.

Why do articles like that need to exist?

Both of those women are famous and they have their appearance commented on every single day and, unfortunately, are probably used to being judged by thousands of complete strangers.

Some feel that being famous means celebrities have to take the good with the bad and have to accept media intrusion and being judged both in print and online as part of their job.

You would never accept a job where harsh comments and bullying were part and parcel of the job but it seems we expect celebrities to because they have a better life than the majority of us.

Why should anyone, regardless of their fame, have to accept bullying? Someone's status, the kind of cars they have on their drive and the amount of money they have in their bank account isn't an excuse for articles to point the finger at them and judge them for not wearing makeup or for going out without their hair professionally styled.

If an article was written about you or I, going about our daily activities, not looking like we're on the way to an award ceremony and the publication judged us for it and made harsh comments, people would react negatively. Rightly so too.

What makes it acceptable to do it to someone in the public eye?

Millions of people across the world suffer with insecurities about their appearance as a result of what they see in the media.

People feel like they aren't good enough because no matter how hard they try, they won't live up to photoshopped adverts. Some feel they absolutely cannot leave the house without makeup and styling their hair because if a celebrity gets judged for it and is called a mess, what hope have they got?

No one should be made to feel bad about their appearance by someone else and no one should ever feel that their appearance is more important than their achievements or them as a person.

Earlier this week The Sun 'trolled' the nation by removing topless images of women from Page Three of their newspaper before bringing back the feature on Thursday. While the campaign to get rid of Page Three isn't over yet, what it has done is encourage people to look carefully at the way women are represented in the media.

Judgemental articles don't bring joy to anyone; all they do is cause hurt and teach people that it's acceptable to judge others based on their appearance and frankly, the world has enough problems as it is.

Close

What's Hot