Women are only worth an eye candy?

Wimbledon women's single champion 2013- Marion Bartoli had to put up with the shallow remarks of a lot of vain people throughout the series. People couldn't stop accusing her of being "unglamorous" and "ugly" over twitter and other social media. The tipping point came with the insolent remark of BBC Radio 5's commentator, who said “Do you think Bartoli’s dad told her when she was little 'You’re never going to be a looker? You’ll never be a Sharapova, so you have to be scrappy and fight.” He later had to revoke his derogatory comment with an unfelt apology. Bartoli however gave a befitting reply to all her critics saying that she had never dreamt of winning a modeling contract, but had definitely dreamt of winning the Wimbledon!!

Not just in sports, but also in Bollywood we witness women being badgered for their physicality.  Actresses draw a lot of flak due to "weight gain". Newspapers are full of stories contemplating possible reasons with pictures of "before" being compared with those of "now". For instance, Bollywood actress 'Bipasha Basu' had to put up with fat-shaming. She was very depressed and was reportedly supported by her then beau 'John Abraham'. Another actress who had to go through a similar ordeal was 'Sushmita Sen'

I personally know a few parents who pressurize their daughters to stay fit, lest their marriage prospects get marred, but can't care less about the untamed bellies of their sons. When I questioned one such mother, she said "Oh, who will marry a fat girl? For boys, everything works out in the end'.I used to be a chubby teenager myself, and was always pressurized by my mother, aunts and my maternal grand mother to loose weight. I am not condoning the fact that being misfit/obese is healthy, but what's with the gender bias here?

All matrimonial advertisements in the newspaper state preferences for the brides to be 'slim', 'fair' and 'extremely beautiful'. In the case of 'wanted grooms', there are no such criteria.Research has it, that beautiful women stand a better chance at scoring a job of their choice, than their 'less attractive' counterparts.In most if not all Bollywood movies, women are only hailed for their beauty. A ‘Konkana Sen Sharma’, can never be a ‘Katrina Kaif’. ‘Nandita Das’ is a brilliant actor, but sadly never got her dues, as she does not possess the ‘conventional’ good looks' (not to mention that at-least 50% of my generation would not even know who she is). ‘Sonam Kapoor’ has sadly been only recognized for her excellent fashion sense. Thus her skills as an actor have always been put on the back burner. ‘Sarah Jessica Parker’ was voted "the unsexiest woman alive”, by an American magazine-, which left her completely shattered and humiliated.

Why are women only recognized for their 'external virtues' instead of their 'talents' and 'skill sets'?? Why are they made to feel bad about their bodies?? Why are they taught and conditioned to base their 'self worth' on how they look?? Why are we hell bent on promoting such shallow benchmarks of recognition?? Aren't looks ephemeral?? What explains gender discrimination in this context? These questions always haunt me. Such sexist attitudes are so deep-rooted in global societies, that it seems impossible to weed them out any time soon. Feel free to give some sound suggestions!!