Why being a lookist is as worse as being a casteist or a sexist

I have long wanted to write about this, since the time I read this fantastic imaginary Documentary - Liking What you see: A Documentary by Ted Chiang. Lookism, like casteism, is a form of discrimination, based on looks or attractiveness. But unlike casteism, which is an imagined reality, lookism is a subjective reality. A Lookist may not even know that being a lookist is wrong. Even progressive thinkers might be lookists, unbeknownst to them. This makes lookism even more dangerous than casteism or sexism.

Lookism is ever pervasive in our society. Yet we fail to acknowledge its presence. For instance, once my friend came to me and pointed towards a girl. He described how 'good looking' was she and how he yearned to garner her attention. I, being a lookist (even now), was bemused and asked him, whether he was pointing to a girl, who was not so attractive (to me). He immediately recoiled back and told me that he was referring to someone else nearby to her. You guessed it right. The girl he was correctly referring to was very much attractive and was a cynosure of many eyes.

Now, what is the fundamental problem here? So what? It is just our perception and appreciation of beauty. Each one is entitled to have their tastes and preferences. This seemingly innocuous and very commonly observed attitude towards unattractive people raises several questions. Why should I appear bemused, when I mistakenly identified the wrong girl? Does my incredulous expression seem to indicate that how stupid was my friend, to get attracted to such an unattractive girl? or Why should my friend recoil back? Was that the fear of being ridiculed for having a 'poor taste'? or was it because how dare would I associate him with that unattractive girl, bringing his 'prestige' into disrepute?

Look at all the arguments which we make against casteism. We often hear people say, just because one is born in so and so caste does not mean that some people are entitled to certain benefits and some people are not. Let me bring this study in front of you. The research, from the University of Chicago and the University of California at Irvine, used data from a long-running national study of more than 14,000 people to look at the association between attractiveness and income. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0276562416300518) Like past studies, the research showed that attractive people tended to earn higher salaries. The conclusion that is drawn from this study - Lookism rewards attractive people more. So let me rephrase the question again. Just because one is attractive, does it mean that he/ she should have additional entitlements? In this age of capitalism, we are uncomfortable with the accumulation of wealth and opportunities by elites and select few. But lookism might enable the concentration of opportunities among the attractive people, if not wealth. 

Article 15 and 16 of the Indian Constitution talks about Right against Discrimination. The State (India) shall not discriminate only based on Religion, Race, Caste, Sex, Place of birth, Descent, Residence, etc. But can it discriminate based on attractiveness? There is a chance that a reader might misinterpret what I am trying to say. So is it wrong to get attracted to attractive people? Who are those ' attractive people' anyway? Is it wrong to appreciate and enjoy one's beauty? Don't we all have a sense of narcissism, appreciating our beauty?  

I find none of the above to be wrong. My problem is with the discrimination and bias against unattractive people. It is a well-known fact that Indians find light skin more attractive than dark skin. Several Fairness Creams have capitalized on this fact and have gone on earning millions of dollars. These fairness creams have constantly belittled dark-complexioned people in their ads. This batters the confidence and self-esteem of those, who think themselves as unattractive or sometimes be labeled by society as unattractive. 

There are legislative and constitutional provisions that can protect minorities from traditional upper-caste oppression such as, Prevention of atrocities against SC/STs, Reservations for minorities in educational institutions and Government Offices, etc. But what could be done for Lookism? Here the will of the people, rather than the will of the government is important to quell this problem. Any kind of legislative remedy for this problem appears bleak in this context. 

Lookism is subtle in its occurrence. Our Brain does not function in binaries either. It is an imperfect yet wonderful organic machine, that tends to have some biases. Lookism, as a theme, must be frequently discussed in various platforms to create awareness about this issue among society.