rogue

No one talks about how hard it is to be hot, say these 'conventionally attractive' women.

It's hard being hot in this world.

A series of women and men have gone viral online for sharing their thoughts on why no one seems to talk about how hard it is to be attractive.

Pretty privilege is the idea that some people have an inherent bias towards those they deem 'conventionally attractive'. Pretty people (according to conventional and societal beauty standards) benefit in life and are afforded greater opportunities because of their perceived attractiveness.

However, some self-describing beautiful people disagree, saying they have faced more challenges due to their appearance.

In comes our beloved Reddit, a thread asking: attractive people of Reddit - what was your horrible experience for being attractive?

Their experiences were varied.

"People treat me badly just because I'm joyful and gorgeous. I know that sounds boastful, but it's the worst thing I've ever experienced."

"Jealousy and resentment."

"Apparently I want everyone's husbands."

"It's difficult to make female friends. Women you've never met before get upset when you show up anywhere as though you were doing something wrong. I want to tell these women: 'I'm not responsible for you not liking yourself.'"

"The number of people who get upset/irked that you didn't notice them as you walk by."

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On a more serious note, there were responses that many resonated with.

"You are presumed to be dumb. It's fascinating how the intelligence bar is pretty low for attractive people." 

"Unsolicited attention. A LOT of it."

"You are lusted over and not loved."

"People want you, or something from you, but sometimes they don't see you as a whole person."

"Being sexually harassed."

"Men never wanting to be my friend, always wanting more."

As one writer penned in a piece for Mamamia: "I'm not here to say that pretty privilege doesn't exist, it absolutely does. I'm no super model, but being slim, white and blonde has gotten me a long way. The world is kinder to those deemed attractive by the conventional and restrictive beauty standards of western society, however, being the object of men's desires can be terrifying."

Interestingly there is research to back up this pretty privilege phenomenon.

An academic paper earlier this year determined that people who are considered to be more beautiful are also believed to be far more trustworthy.

It also found that beautiful people are more likely to earn higher salaries, be chosen for job opportunities at work and receive preferential treatment overall.

TikTok is now awash with first-person hot takes too.

@lexiihilll

People talk about pretty privilege but never the negative aspects of having blonde hair. There is so much profiling and judgements that people have towards people with blonde hair #girls #blondehair #prettyprivilege #fyp

♬ original sound - lexi.hill


@beautybyallii7

#stitch with @Lydia WHY #prettygirls dont get approached 👀👀 #PrettyGirlsMovement #prettygirlproblems #adviceforgirls #datingadvice #gettingapproached #dating

♬ original sound - beautybyallii7


@derekalcavage

none of your assumptions are true #prettyboy #hotboy #fy #foryou

♬ Get Into It (Yuh) - Doja Cat

One user shared: "Usually the prettiest and most popular girl is treated the most poorly by her female counterparts."

Another claimed: "No one really talks about this, but how people treat people with blonde hair is actually insane. Would people take me more seriously if I had dark hair?"

What others have argued though is that what some consider to be 'the downsides of pretty privilege' from a female perspective is actually just 'good ol' sexism', which all women are sadly impacted by.

As the academics behind the 2024 research note: "Being aware of one's bias is crucial. This pretty privilege bias is very hard to overcome, since even individuals who from their own experience should be aware of beauty's skin-deep value, fall prey to it."

Feature Image: TikTok.

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