Beauty and Politicians

Overview of the topic

In this topic, the detailed discussion will be carried out regarding the importance of beauty among the politicians. This is one of the widely discussed topics these days. The main reason is that the debate is taking place in the political circles that the appearance also has a role for any person who needs to become a politician. This is a noticeable aspect these days. In the world of politics appearance is becoming increasingly important. How one looks can determine success or failure in one's career. People place weight on the appearance of candidates even though they should probably be thinking about more important criteria on Election Day. Views on issues, leadership, and the ability to solve problems and collaborate with others for a greater cause are all factors that are more or less tossed aside at the ballot box in favor of the appearances of the candidates. Beauty and how a candidate looks to the electorate play an important role in the success or failure of that politician. This practice is taking place and it is expected that it is going to increase further in the future. Therefore, all the issues and aspects related to the relationship between Beauty and Politics will be discussed in detail.

Discussion of the topic

In the modern world, the ever growing importance of the public's perception of the candidate's beauty has resulted in the hiring of personal stylists. According to William Hart, Victor Ottati, and Nathaniel Krumdick, “voters evaluate physically attractive candidates more favorably than unattractive candidates” (181). This is why political candidates invest so much in their appearances. Beauty is so important in politics that “Sarah Palin's makeup artist was the highest paid staff member of the 2008 McCain campaign” as stated by Anne Kingston. Looking good for the voters is imperative to a campaign. The goal of a politician is to be elected into whichever office he or she desires. They will try to sell themselves like marketing executives sell their products. Just like marketing pros, politicians have to make their “products” look appealing to their target audience. Amy King and Andrew Leigh wrote an article about the relationship between a candidate's beauty and the percentage of votes they receive in which they said, “we find a strong positive relationship between our rater's assessment of beauty and candidates' share of the vote.

The increase in a candidate's beauty is associated with a 1.4 percentage point increase in vote share” (591). A perfect example of this is the 1960 presidential election in which John F. Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon because of the television debates in which “Kennedy's superior image may have tipped the scale”(Hart, Ottati, Krumdick 182). Being attractive holds more importance in this field than most people may think. Voters hold the politicians' futures in the palms of their hands so these political workers need to keep the electorates happy so that they can attain a job and later keep it.

Once a politician has been elected ...