The ugly unattractive woman facing lot of hardships and discrimination at work has been the most loved theme worldwide. And this despite the fact that she is intelligent, amiable, smart and truly capable. Also many women identify themselves with the protagonist. Proof?....this is the underlying theme for many a successful soaps made world-wide. Jassi Jaisi koi Nahin is India's version of the story. I wonder what makes the theme so popular?
1) Yes, looks do matter. A good-looking person/child may be a lot more popular and confident compared to the not so good looking counterparts.
2) All these soaps had the ugly duckling transforming into a swan and winning the Handsome prince and giving it back to her detractors. Who wouldn't identify with this? The good underdog finally wins.
But all said and done i still wonder is it always a cakewalk for the prettier ones? Take the workplace for example. Are there no issues whatsoever. Think about it. A good-looking woman gets promoted and a few disgruntled jibe "Well she had to get it, didn't she? After all she has got the looks to kill!"
The fact that the woman worked for it and deserved it hardly counts.
In my college we were told by our male classmates that it was comparatively easier for pretty girls to get selected for jobs. They just had to smile throughout the interview. You call this a sick mentality? I would agree and also pity them. It is not that all men think this way. But some men and also some women do think on these lines. A well dressed fashionable woman is labelled a bimbo. She is in the company for obvious reasons. She lacks substance and capability. Forget about expecting hard work from these women. If by chance this woman is smart and assertive, then she is immediately labelled arrogant and demanding.
Luckily these mentalities are not common. But even then this disease in some people must be treated. How? Maybe by purging their minds and by setting aside the prejudices. Have a re-look and stop judging the book by its cover. Or rather don't judge a woman by her looks. So one can see that Ugly Betty /Jassi is just one side of the coin. There might be several untold or rather unseen sides to it. Women in general (ugly or pretty) still face some challenges be it in a workplace or society in general and will continue to do so until some ill-conceived perceptions regarding them change.
