For women, I think the rationale for asking marital status is to discover whether or not the lady in question will likely be taking [expensive] long term maternity leave. I have heard here that one reason employers favor young single women is that they are certainly less likely to become pregnant and disappear from work.

As for the photo thing, it would seem self explanatory. Nobody wants to employ fat dirty ugly people. Every company wants attractive employees. I think it's not different in America except that you just can't demand photos with an application. You have to wait and waste valuable company time with personal interviews before you can discover whether or not the applicant is a dog.

Come on, we all know that looks count in this world. Brutal yes, but true.