Empowered yet dehumanized: perceptions of women’s attractiveness in the context of gender earnings inequality

Background: Gender earnings inequality remains a significant issue in the labor market. In response, women may perceive attractiveness as a potential resource. However, the effectiveness of attractiveness may vary depending on whether it is assessed from a first-person or third-person perspective. Methods: To explore how attractiveness is perceived in the context of gender earnings inequality, we conducted two studies. Study 1 examined women’s self-perceptions of their attractiveness when faced with gender earnings inequality. Study 2 investigated how third-person observers perceive women’s emphasis on attractiveness in the same context. Results: Study 1 revealed that women reported feeling empowered by their attractiveness. However, Study 2 found that third-party observers perceived women’s emphasis on attractiveness as a form of self-dehumanization. Specifically, participants viewed these women as less human, less empowered, more susceptible to sexual objectification in daily life, and less likely to be chosen as friends in the gender earnings inequality context. Conclusion: These findings provide evidence for the perceived empowering function of women’s attractiveness as a response to gender earnings inequality while also highlighting a critical discrepancy between women’s self-perceptions and third-party evaluations of attractiveness.