In an essay in Newsweek (June 14, 2010), Dahlia Lithwick wonders if bias based on looks should be illegal.  She notes that a Stanford law professor, Deborah Rhode,
has proposed "a legal regime in which discrimination on the basis of looks is as serious as discrimination based on gender or race."  Rhode goes on to suggest that in America, "discrimination against unattractive women and short men is as pernicious and widespread as bias based on race, sex, age, ethnicity, religion, and disability."  She notes that "11 percent of surveyed couples say they would abort a fetus predisposed toward obesity.  College students tell surveyors they'd rather have a spouse who is an embezzler, drug user, or a shoplifter than one who is obese.  The less attractive you are in America, the more likely you are to receive a longer prison sentence, a lower damage award, a lower salary, and poorer performance reviews.  You are less likely to be married and more likely to be poor."

You get the idea.  I thought it might be of interest for us to think about this issue: should our bias towards good looks, in the many ways it plays out in American society, be made illegal?