General definition

Lookism is a form of discrimination of individuals, which is based on their outward appearance. The term lookism is meant to designate the hierarchization of individuals on the basis of bodily traits, which are rated positively or negatively and therefore enlarge or diminish an individual's value.The perception of certain traits as positive or negative with regard to one's appearance depends on various factors, e.g. a particular concept of gender roles.

Our usage of the term

We use the term „lookism“ for discrimination that is based on „beautiful/ugly“-norms and the rating of individuals as „good“ looking or „bad“ looking which goes along with it.In this context we use the terms „beautiful“ and „ugly“ substitutionally for the huge amount of positively/negatively connoted words which are related to people's outward appearances.