If you have young and fit folks, but due to the structure of the society, they're largely forced to do manual labor or other such things, becoming obese and unattractive can become a power move. The genesis of the pasha, perhaps. These things can be recognized and re-balanced in a society, -- necessarily using television, though that's usually the blunderbuss tactic.
Perhaps its about the notion of perfection being stronger than the notion of power.