I was studying with a friend in I.K.B. Library about a month and a half ago when approached by two individuals who said they were recruiting for Abercrombie and Fitch’s new Hollister location in downtown Vancouver. At the time, I thought nothing of it because random occurrences frequent UBC’s point grey campus. So I played along and even after being told that the job starts at minimum wage, I took their card to be polite.
After they left I looked down and made a stupid comment about the pictures of preppy and shirtless models on the company card I had received and noticed something peculiar. The card included the term “good-looking” in the qualities that it seeks in potential employees. I was a little shocked and asked my friend, “Are they really allowed to do that?” Having past experience in modelling, she did not think anything of this and said it is most likely in order to hire potential models.
With a boost to my ego but highly doubtful of my modelling potential, I decided to investigate further. It took very little research to discover that it is simply a policy of Abercrombie and Fitch to hire young, attractive college students to work in their stores. To me, this policy makes perfect sense in that young guys are going to want to go into a store where there are a number of young, attractive girls working and vice-versa. Also, call it what you like, but the people working out front of an A&F store are in effect modelling for the brand.
Though this policy may seem quite practical, is it ethical? Of course discriminating based on religion, age, gender, disability or ethnicity is highly unethical and, in Canada, illegal. But, as they cannot be classified as a distinct group, the discrimination against those who are not particularly attractive is tolerated.
I feel it is unethical to hire an inexperienced attractive person over someone who is less attractive but possesses experience in retail. However, I’m sure employers subconsciously give more attractive people an edge in a number of other industries as well. The issue of discrimination based on appearance cannot be easily resolved if at all and will likely continue to be present in business into the distant future.
What do you think?
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