"That made me feel very disturbed, because it never seemed to be about how much hard work was involved. Ever. It was about... 'hazel eyes'. It does help if you can brush that stuff off"

A feeling of disturbance arises when effort is rendered invisible and value is assigned to attributes no one earns. The speaker is confronting a system where judgment pivots on surface markers rather than craft, discipline, and the slow accumulation of skill. “Hazel eyes” functions as shorthand for an aesthetic criterion, arbitrary, immutable, and quietly tyrannical, standing in for all the ways a person can be reduced to a look. The clipped rhythm, “Ever.”, captures the absolutism of that experience: a sense that merit scarcely enters the room.

There is a deep professional injury in realizing that countless hours of work can be eclipsed by a glance. It corrodes trust in the fairness of outcomes and makes excellence feel irrelevant. The ellipsis before “hazel eyes” carries both reluctance and resignation, as if naming the crude truth risks legitimizing it while silence enables it to persist.

“Brushing that stuff off” signals a protective strategy: building calluses against demeaning measurements. It is practical, even necessary, to keep moving in an environment built on perception. Yet the advice is double-edged. Detachment can preserve dignity, but it can also normalize inequity, teaching people to endure what should be confronted. The emotional labor of ignoring such slights becomes another burden, disproportionately borne by those most objectified.

There is a distinctly gendered undertone in how appearance can overshadow achievement, especially in industries obsessed with visual appeal. But the critique is broader, aimed at any ecosystem where optics trump substance. The statement exposes a hypocrisy: public rhetoric venerates hard work while private decisions reward superficial fit.

At its core is a plea for a merit narrative that is more than cosmetic. Respect the work: the hours, the technique, the growth. Build systems, clear criteria, accountable decision-making, that dampen bias. Offer solidarity and mentorship that validate both the craft and the person. And, when possible, learn to brush it off without letting it erase the conviction that effort should matter.