Air India has fired ten employees for weighing too much. Following the lead of others in the business, the airline is adding looks to its list of requirements. Air India has tried to recruit beauty pageant finalists, refused applicants with acne and bad teeth, and imposed weight standards.
Recently upholding Air India’s right to reassign overweight cabin staff, an Indian court noted that the state-run airline needed slim attendants to compete with private rivals. Indeed, Air India’s standards do not deviate from much of the industry, which strives to project beauty, comfort and luxury.
Airlines are only one of many service sector industries demanding that workers meet strict criteria for looks and appearance unrelated to the workers’ capacity to perform his or her tasks. A competent, dedicated worker may be fired for no other reason than not meeting the company’s often unattainable standards of good looks.
These firings illustrate just one of the myriad of different ways in which capitalism objectifies human beings. Jobs are a right!
