Appearance discrimination in public and semi-public spaces : hypervisibility, misgendering, and objectification

Drawing on Deborah Hellman and Sophia Moreau’s theories of discrimination, in this thesis I describe and normatively assess three cases of appearance discrimination in public and semi-public spaces. The first case concerns hypervisibility, i.e. treating a person differently because of their increased visibility compared to other people. The second case revolves around appearance-based misgendering, i.e. addressing a person in a gendered way that contradicts with how they self-identify. And the third case discusses sexually objectifying treatment and in particular the sexual objectification of men. My analysis shows that these very common instances of appearance discrimination, despite being seen as morally unproblematic by many, should indeed worry us, in particular because they can contribute to further lowering the status of members of disadvantaged groups and can harm even those more privileged in significant ways. The thesis closes with a discussion of what individuals, organisations, and states should do when confronted with these ostensibly small, everyday acts of appearance discrimination. Throughout the thesis, I extensively draw on sociological and psychological research, as well as the testimony of activists and those with first-hand experiences of appearance discrimination in order to develop a nuanced, intersectional understanding of my cases of interest and represent them in an epistemically respectful way