Lookism

About

Lookism is an internet slang term defined as prejudice or discrimination towards a person's physical appearance. Memes, catchphrases and stereotypes about people's appearance are common on the Internet and spawned various viral meme formats.

Origin

The word "Lookism" originated in the late 1970s in the United States of America, and initially described discrimination that overweight people face. It was used for the first time in a 1978 article by The Washington Post.^[1][2] Even when non-intentionally applied, lookism has an everyday life impact, as several studies proved that attractive people are on average more successful, earn more money and have more job opportunities.^[3][4][5]

Spread

Lookism gained popularity in the incel community due to many incels blaming their own looks for their lack of success with women.^[6][7] Examples of lookism used as propaganda were posted on r/Braincels, the largest Reddit incel community, on September 13th, 2018 (shown below, left),^[8] and on March 4th, 2019 (shown below, right).^[9]

On February 27th, 2018, a Starter Pack containing the internet slang, catchphrases, reaction images and moggings associated with lookist forum Lookism.net was posted on r/starterpacks by The_CollegeDropin (shown below, left).^[10] The post received over 165 points in 5 years. On April 17th, 2019, a meme about Charles II of Spain was posted on iFunny by BowsersCock, showing Charles progress after learning about lookism (shown below, right).^[11] The post received over 1,100 smiles in 4 years.

On October 19th, 2020, Im_The_Daiquiri_Man posted an ironic meme on r/PurplePillDebate, showing "all kinds of men" that women love, and these men being all generally attractive male models and actors (shown below).^[12] The post received over 125 points in 2 years.

Related Memes

Hello, Human Resources?!

Hello, Human Resources?!, also known as Know the Work Rules, is a comic by Sunny Street lambasting a perceived double standard in women's reactions towards compliments coming from attractive and unattractive males, similar to Be Attractive, Don't Be Unattractive trope. Online, the comic has been parodied, with the phrases said by the characters of the comic altered.

Flirting vs. Harassment

Flirting vs. Harassment is a two-panel meme format lambasting a perceived double standard in women's reactions towards compliments coming from attractive and unattractive males, similar to the Hello, Human Resources meme format. Spawned by a viral Facebook meme, the format has been used both as an image caption and an exploitable since March 2021.

Mogging

Mogging is a slang term describing the act of dominating another person, commonly but not necessarily through the means of appearing more physically fit and attractive than them. Coined by pickup artists and initially popularized within the "manosphere," the term saw gradual popularization online in the late 2010s and 2020s.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References