Ugliness has recently emerged as a serious subject of study and academic interest unto itself, in some small part because of the success of television's "Ugly Betty," which ABC promoted with a "Be Ugly" campaign stressing self-esteem for girls and young women. Sociologists, writers, lawyers and economists have begun to examine ugliness, suggesting that the subject has been marginalized in history and that discrimination against the unattractive, while difficult to document or prevent, is a quiet but widespread injustice.
Researchers who have tried to measure appearance discrimination, or "uglyism" and "looksism," and the impact of what they call the "beauty premium" and the "plainness penalty" on income, say that the time has come for ugly to peek out from beauty's shadow.