Is It Easier to be Angry at Unattractive People?

It is difficult to detach ourselves from physical appearance and judge by character. Looks are the first things we see, the first things that we react to, and they, unlike personality or intellect, fully reveal themselves immediately.  There’s no wait involved. It’s instant gratification, and it’s easier, more natural even, than having to delve deeper into the character of any one person, be it a stranger or someone near and dear. We cling to the visual side of life to inform the emotional side.

With effort, however, this instinct can be curbed. Friendships can be made, bonds can be forged (and broken) in a way that is not superficial. Familiarity can allow us to close our eyes and envision, not the arbitrary physical features of an individual, but instead that person in her entirety, a blurry visual based more on experiences and memories.

On a day-to-day basis, we can work at seeing people this way. We can make the extra effort and attempt to defy popular culture and all that it says about beauty. But the thing is, this requires self-control, and lots of it.  What about when that is just impossible, when emotions run too high to regulate actions; when we lose our tempers? What about when anger trumps every existing ounce of our self-monitoring conscience? It’s here that we revert back to what is natural; we judge by what is directly in front of us, and what is pleasing to the eye becomes pleasing to the mind as well. As shallow as it sounds (and as it is), it’s just far easier to get mad at ugly people.

It’s unfair, yes, but at least in my experience, it’s also very true. Without restraint, as subconscious as that can be, we forget all that we have taught ourselves to see in a person, and instead, view them as we did originally: perfect strangers, classified only by their most obvious attributes, their looks. Only this time, there’s the added aggression and disgust that comes with anger.

Each wrinkle and untraditional crevice, blemish, deformity, or roll of fat, is judged with the severe scrutiny of someone looking to be dissatisfied, searching for a reason to get angrier. When these don’t exist, or are at least well hidden from view, we can relax our fury, and let it accept the fact that there is no place for it to focus. But when there are flaws to be found, when we find a place on which to concentrate that allows our eyes to achieve the same level of revulsion as our minds, anger transforms into rage.

Without self-control, there is nothing to check or balance the perception of physical defects with any aspect of personality; therefore these bodily flaws only perpetuate the anger, letting it grow and inflate. With nothing ugly to attract the eye on a good-looking person, irritation subsides, having no place to fester.

For the “uggos,” left helpless and unlucky, this truth is horribly unjust—but it’s hard to change. Maybe, as an attempt to override instinct (when instinct is the basis of anger), we shouldn’t try to view everyone as visually equal. We should let ourselves think these terrible things, let our eyes stare in disgust at a pimple or unwanted hair; we just shouldn’t act on it. Look, fine, think cruel thoughts fine, but we should, for appearances sake, treat everyone as equals when we lose our temper.

Yell at the ugly people, sure. Just make sure to yell at the pretty people too.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/therogue/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

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