In this interview, three women–a model, dancer, and part-time worker–share their stories about appearance-based bias and discrimination they have faced or noticed during their careers. Each interviewee is asked about memorable moments during their careers, including experiences with Korea’s flawed blind-hiring law and mental health issues that occurred due to Korea’s rigid beauty norms imposed upon workers in the workforce. 

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One of the dancers’ peers had to obtain a part-time job to afford plastic surgery to refine her face for a resume photo she planned to submit to her actual intended dream job.

On the other hand, the model, now a teacher, acknowledged she did not realize her own implicit bias while evaluating resume photos, because using looks to infer an applicant’s holistic character was so deeply ingrained in the hiring process. The same model, however, claimed that health and beauty should not be equated, as she developed osteoporosis at a young age due to the hazardous diet routines she followed to achieve ‘beauty.’

Finally, the part-time worker recalled when she had witnessed her boss hire a relatively more “attractive” worker over a noticeably competent applicant, and was silenced from explaining the reason why the applicant was rejected.   

Yet, ultimately, the three women, though separately interviewed, came to the consensus that conformity and comparison are not always the pathway to empowerment–the embracing of unique traits that speak truthfully of one’s identity is.