Labor market and female appearance: An integrative review

https://doi.org/10.5935/rpot/e26826

Authors

Keywords:

women, appearance, labor market

Abstract

Currently, data points to gender disparities in the labor market, with disadvantages affecting women. Their lower participation is often a result of aspects related to appearance. This integrative review involved national and international scientific production on female appearance and the labor market. Sixty-eight articles were selected from multidisciplinary databases and national fashion journals, in Portuguese, English and Spanish. The search filtered the simultaneous presence in the title of the descriptors: woman, labor market and appearance. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the results. The United States leads in scientific production. Nothing was found in the African continent. The data points to a vertical power relationship, stemming from the interference of institutions in the construction and expression of female appearance in terms of aesthetic, physical, behavioral, attitudinal and symbolic aspects. This dynamic encourages a hierarchization of female appearances, which deepens disadvantages for Black, older, overweight, pregnant, and religious women.

Published

2026-11-10

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