Deceitful Looks

I look into your eyes and see no trust,

We have not met and yet you doubt my face;

You cannot hide from me your plain disgust,

Your guileless gape puts me back in my place.

 

We have not met and yet you doubt my face,

My beauty buried deeply out of sight;

Your guileless gape puts me back in my place,

Features that could not soften only fright.

 

My beauty buried deeply out of sight,

You see me as a threat yet know not why;

Features that could not soften only fright,

The surface of your truth destroys my lie.

 

You see me as a threat yet know not why,

Then pick me out as someone you should doubt;

The surface of your truth destroys my lie,

Despite me longing that you would reach out.

 

Then pick me out as someone you should doubt,

Allow your skin-deep judgment to decide;

Despite me longing that you would reach out,

I do not crave suspicion by my side.

 

Allow your skin-deep judgment to decide

Computer generated facial traits;

I do not crave suspicion by my side,

Why should our beauty determine our fates?

 

Computer generated facial traits,

You cannot hide from me your plain disgust;

Why should our beauty determine our fates,

I look into your eyes and see no trust.

 

 

This is a pantoum, written about recent research, which found that children are less likely to trust ugly people. The study found that children’s trustworthiness judgments were closely related to facial attractiveness and that this relationship increased with age. These findings are the first to observe such behaviour in children, although previous research has shown that the same can be observed amongst new born babies and also adults. This behaviour is often referred to as the ‘physical attractiveness stereotype,’ in which people have a tendency to assume that people who are physically attractive also possess other socially desirable personality traits, such as trustworthiness and loyalty.

 

An audio version of this poem can be heard here.