The Beauty Bias

Deborah L. Rhode is the Ernest W. McFarland Professor of Law and the Director of the Center on the Legal Profession at Stanford University. She has a Yale BA and JD, and is a former law clerk of Justice Thurgood Marshall, a former president of the Association of American Law Schools, a former chair of the American Bar Association's Commission on Women in the Profession, and a former director of both Stanford's Center on Ethics and its Institute for Research on Women and Gender. She is the author or coauthor of twenty books, including In the Interests of Justice (OUP 2003), Access to Justice (OUP 2004), and Ethics in Practice (OUP 2003), and over 200 articles, and is the nation's most cited scholar on professional responsibility.

Preface ; 1. Introduction ; The Personal Becomes Political: The Trouble With Shoes ; The Costs and Consequences of Appearance ; Surveying the Foundations: Social, Biological, Economic, Technological, and Media Forces ; Feminist Challenges and Responses ; Appearance Discrimination: Social Wrongs and Legal Rights ; Legal Frameworks ; A Roadmap for Reform ; 2. The Importance of Appearance and the Costs of Conformity ; Definitions of Attractiveness and Forms of Discrimination ; Interpersonal Relationships and Economic Opportunities ; Self- Esteem, Stigma, and Quality of Life ; Gender Differences ; The Price of Upkeep: Time and Money ; Health Risks ; Bias ; 3. The Pursuit of Beauty ; Sociobiological Foundations ; Cultural Values, Status, and Identity ; Market Forces ; Technology ; The Media ; Advertising ; The Culture of Beauty ; 4. Critics and Their Critics ; Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Critics ; The Contemporary Women's Movement ; Critics ; Responses ; Personal Interests and Political Commitments ; Beyond the Impasse ; 5. The Injustice of Discrimination ; Ensuring Equal Opportunity: Challenging Stigma and Stereotypes ; Challenging Subordination Based on Class, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Disability, and Sexual Orientation ; Protecting Self-Expression: Personal Liberty and Cultural Identity ; The Rationale for Discrimination and Resistance to Prohibitions ; The Parallel of Sex Harassment ; The Contributions of Law ; 6. Legal Frameworks ; The Limitations of Prevailing Legal Frameworks ; Prohibitions on Appearance Discrimination ; A Comparative Approach: European Responses to Appearance Discrimination ; The Contributions and Limitations of Legal Prohibitions on Appearance Discrimination ; Consumer Protection: Prohibitions on False and Fraudulent Marketing Practices ; Directions for Reform ; 7. Strategies for Change ; Defining the Goal ; Individuals ; Business and the Media ; Law and Policy