In the article ''Going for the look but risking discrimination'' by Steven Greenhouse he uses the phrase ''Skirting the edges of anti-discrimination'' which describes the behavior of employers who are hiring based on appearance and not their work experience or work habits. After reading this article and understanding that phrase, I've come to believe that companies have every right to hire whomever may portray the image they want. Companies will do whatever they can to get ahead and make the company more successful which leads them to being very selective about who they hire to work in there store. The companies understand that all of their employees are representing a certain image, so looks play a big part in selecting who they choose to hire.
For example, stores like Abercrombie and Fitch are extremely selective about who they hire. They only hire blue eyed, blond hair, fit young people to work at their store. As some may see it as being discriminatory, the company sees it as hiring people who fit the image of their store.
Marshal Cohen states that hiring based on how well the employee can portray the company image is critical. I agree when he states that the employees are like walking billboards, in other words saying that who they hire will be advertising their products. The way that employees dress,look and act can make attract customers into the store therefore, making the company more successful.
Although I've never experienced not being hired because of my looks, after all the class discussions we had about this, I saw how some of my classmates reacted to not being hired simply because they weren't female and wanting to sell women's clothing. It may have seemed harsh but reality is that women are more comfortable approaching another woman for advice on whats ''in'' and what may look better.
My conclusion, then, is that companies have every right to hire whomever they want especially when they are trying to project an image. They're only doing whats right for their company.
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