I have read the responses to this thread in their entirety. It is so very true that one cannot expect more than he or she is willing to give. Here is a perspective though. A thousand women ages 20-35 were shown a thousand random pictures of men in the same age range. Fully 80% of these men were rated as below average in attractiveness. If you put the guys in a new Mercedes the opposite would have been perceived.
A lot of people miss that.
Fully 80% of these men were rated as below average in attractiveness. If you put the guys in a new Mercedes the opposite would have been perceived.
I don't doubt.
One of the problems with the whole looks thing is that advertising has set the bar so high that probably one in thousands of people can make that without much work. And people have been conditioned to expect that they should be the one to get the good looking one, and it seems to be especially pervasive among men who flirt with young attractive girls and the guys look like derelicts and then they take offense when they get snubbed.
Sure, any person wants to marry attractive, but only a few will every really be able to do it.
That said, it behooves both men and women to try and look their best. For the men who complain about what older women look like as they age, they can set the example and make sure the same complaint isn't made against them.
You want your woman to look good for you, look good for her.
The most basic drives are for sex in a man and for security for herself and her children in a woman. Yes the guy in nice clothes and a Mercedes is better looking than the fellow in a 10 year old pickup truck with an off color dented fender. He appears to be better able to provide for a wife and children. A man's notion of good looks is generally based on good health signals. In civilization there are other considerations more and more but those two things are the foundation of it all. Being cynical about it is nonconstructive.
It’s the 80-20 rule. 80% of women desire the same top 20% of men, and don’t want to “settle” for the kind of man who would actually have any interest in marrying them. Meanwhile, the top 10-20% get lots of women, and thus have little interest in committing to any of them.