We were packed tight in the airport shuttle bus to the ferry, and to pass time, I was googling random shit on my phone: What does Koh mean?

I’d just landed in Koh Samui about an hour before from KL, and the ferry we were going to take -- at least the one I was going to take -- was going to Koh Pha Ngan. Koh Samui is an island. Koh Pha Ngan is an island. Koh Lipe, which is popular with divers, is an island. And the beach they shot The Beach at was at Koh Phi Phi, which is also an island. All these places with different names are islands, and the one thing they all have in common is the prefix Koh, so I figured Koh probably means island. 

“Koh means island,” the guy sitting next to me said. Homeboy was clearly looking at my phone, which, first of all -- rude. 

But, when I turned to look at him, he seemed really genuine. There was a certain warmth behind his smile that made me physically incapable of being made. I returned the smile because I knew he meant no harm.

👀

APIQ Core often jokes about us all having hot privilege -- which is true, we do -- but the privileges of being attractive are indeed real. Being "attractive" allows you to navigate the world that much easier than otherwise. By matching the standard notions of beauty, you become that much more comparable to the protagonists and heroes of the movies. Most of contemporary western culture has been raised with Hollywood as a major source of entertainment. As entertaining as it is, Hollywood has indoctrinated the masses to subconsciously attribute attractiveness with being good, and ugliness with being evil. 

This is just an observation, but if two equally qualified candidates were to apply for the exact same position, the one who was considered "more attractive" would probably be the winner.