Conventional Beauty or GTFO

I learn all kinds of wonderful things about people and society at work. Racism is okay as long as you're nice about it, learning disabilities and mood disorders in children should go untreated to save the face of adults (this subject will get its own post), and looks get you farther than talent in every conceivable way.

I know I'm beating an equine beast that has been deceased for a long and indeterminate amount of time, but new things continue to pop up that demand a good rant on the internet.

There was a new teacher-in-training at my school. She seemed nervous all the time and was a bit quiet, but I would have been on edge if I were in her place. Though I hadn't exchanged anything more than polite greetings with her, she seemed nice.

She was also quite pretty. Weighed less than I ever will.

The only comments I had heard about her from higher-ups is that she "sounds good on the phone" and "looks nice." Another co-worker mentioned her standardized test scores were really good, yet she did poorly when a foreign teacher interviewed her in English. As long as you look cute, you don't need to actually speak English to work at an English conversation school, right?

Right.

Prime example - this is an actual note that was left on my drawer at work by a coworker. If they hadn't talked to me in person about this class, I wouldn't know what any of this garbage meant. But hey, fuck spelling and grammar if you've got a pretty face and get people in the door!

Business level English is a preference, not a requirement.

I've interviewed people with a range of skill levels. Some can barely string a sentence together, others speak fluently and tell me they've got a PhD in education from Stanford (at which point I question why they'd ever work for my company). None of it matters. If you're good-looking, you're set. If one person in the interview process doesn't like how you look, you're done.

I've heard all kinds of atrocious comments made about some of my interviewees. I interviewed one guy who had lived in America for a decade and spoke near-fluently, but a coworker couldn't get it out of her head that he looked like some obscure comedian and laughed about it all day. I felt bad for the guy, he did well otherwise and he wasn't all that bad looking in the first place. I'm not sure if he was ever hired or went through training, but I'd guess not.

I can only imagine what people say about me and what random things Japanese people find less than attractive about my appearance. I'd guess 1) too fat, 2) face isn't Japanese enough, and 3) too fat (you really can't be skinny enough in this country). I do have the beautiful white skin that is so coveted by Japanese women, according to the boyfriend at least. I also don't need any glue for my double eye-lids, they're natural.

The pretty trainee ended up not making it because she found the higher-level classes too difficult to teach. I'm surprised someone had the gall to let a conventionally attractive girl go without a job. Guess she wasn't cute enough for someone at the head office.