中國網站品牌欄目（頻道）
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 Successful: Cheryl Cole is both attractive and a high achiever |
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Some might consider it an ugly truth that attractive people are often more successful than those less blessed with looks. But now our appearance is emerging in legal disputes as a new kind of discrimination. ‘Lookism’, it is claimed, is the new racism, and should be banished from civilised societies. It is currently the subject of several court actions in America, and some experts say similar cases should be considered here too. Economist Daniel Hamermesh argues that ugliness is no different from race or a disability, and suggests unattractive people deserve legal protection. ‘My research shows being good-looking helps you earn more money, find a higher-earning spouse and even get better deals on mortgages,’ he said. ‘Some people are born ugly and there’s not much they can do about it. You’re pretty much stuck with your looks. ‘Logically there’s no less reason to protect the ugly than the disabled, African Americans, other racial minorities or religious minorities, as we do. We could even have affirmative action for the ugly.’ But Lawrence Davies, of the Equal Justice law firm, believes we should be wary of amending current equality laws. ‘People who appear to be conventionally beautiful have fewer barriers to workplace success,’ he said. ‘However, protecting conventionally ugly people or offensively linking that condition to a disability would take society in the wrong direction.’ The issue has been highlighted by the case of Shirley Ivey, 61, who is suing her former employer in Washington for ‘lookism’. She left her job at the Department of Consumer and Regulatory affairs suffering from stress after allegedly being told by a supervisor that he would like her more if she was prettier. (Read by Christine Mallari. Christine Mallari is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
長相漂亮的人通常比相貌平平的人更成功，這也許在某些人看來是丑陋的事實。 但如今相貌作為一種新歧視出現在了法律糾紛當中。 有人宣稱，“外貌主義”是種族主義的新形式，應該在文明社會中被摒棄。 目前美國好幾個法庭都出現了外貌歧視案件，一些專家說相似的案例也應該考慮進去。 經濟學家丹尼爾?漢默梅希認為，因相貌丑陋受到的歧視和種族或殘疾歧視沒有差別，并建議說其貌不揚的人應受到法律保護。 他說：“我的研究表明，長得漂亮能幫你掙到更多的錢、找到收入更高的配偶，甚至能在抵押借款時獲得更多優惠。” “有些人天生就長得丑，他們也很難改變自己的長相。而且這樣的長相將伴隨他們的一生。 “從邏輯上來講，丑陋的人與殘疾人、非洲裔美國人、其他種族或宗教少數人群一樣有理由受到保護。我們甚至可以向丑陋人群實行平權法案。” 但是公正律師事務所的勞倫斯?戴維斯認為，在修改現行的平等法律時我們應該采取謹慎的態度。 他說：“公認為漂亮的人通往職場成功之路的障礙會更少，然而，保護那些被公認為丑陋的人，或把貌丑和殘疾聯系起來，這會讓人不愉快，并會把社會引向錯誤的方向。” 此前61歲的雪莉?艾維以外貌歧視為名起訴她在華盛頓的前上司，從而使這一問題受到高度關注。雪莉稱她之前在消費者及監管事務部工作時被一位主管告知如果她長得漂亮些，他會更喜歡她，后來雪莉因受不了壓力而辭職。 相關閱讀 （中國日報網英語點津 陳丹妮 編輯：Julie） |
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Vocabulary: stuck with: 無法擺脫 affirmative action: 平權法案，指企業采取的鼓勵雇用和錄取少數民族、弱勢民族、女性等以防止種族與性別歧視的積極行動。 conventionally: based on or in accordance with general agreement（一致同意地） |
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