I think a situation like this can be similar to the kind/nice distinction. Your hot coworker may never get the respect (or have the chance to earn it) because

I think a situation like this can be similar to the kind/nice distinction. Your hot coworker may never get the respect (or have the chance to earn it) because people only seek them out for their surface level traits and work-irrelevant things like having access to attractive women. The behaviour is not hard to reign in either: I work with a few very attractive women with whom I have great chemistry and could probably lure into long conversations and yes, build subtle sexual tension. However, it’s way more mutually beneficial that our relationship is based around their competence in engineering, or HR, or sales. As you pointed out, the easy route for many men is to baby or pester such women, which can even kill a company if it gets too pathological. I’ve even seen well meaning male personalities at work cut off or talk over the more soft spoken (and IMO smarter) women. I actively try to fight that tendency when I can- without being imposing- and see surprise/appreciation when I do so.