>>>That is such a load of nonsense. Often stated by guys who can’t get a date because 1) they have not bothered to try to make themselves interesting, and 2) they will look only at women who are “out of their league”.<<<
According to this survey done by an online dating site, 80% of men were rated as below average in looks. I imagine most of those guys in the 80% only posted the most flattering pictures of themselves. And if your best isn’t good enough, oh my.
https://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/your-looks-and-online-dating/
And FWIW the average boomer is estimated to have 11 sex partners in their lives, 10 for gen X and forecast down to 8 for millennials.
So what decent man wants a woman who sleeps around you ask. Well how many hot women are actually single and not sleeping around? My guess is the older the guy, the fewer such women are available to him. And in my case, at age 40 when I was dating for a 2nd time, I’d say that number was extremely low. Just saying.
Sorry, I did not look at your links, but I will respond to what you said. Looks, for most women over 25, are not that important for a man. Of course, she wants a man who is well-groomed, but Hollywood looks are not required.
As a woman, I can look at a man and evaluate him in terms of physical attractiveness, which is probably what the dating site survey was asking for, but a photo does not tell the whole picture. Meeting a man in person and having a conversation with him tells a woman much more than a snapshot can do. The less than handsome man may come across as a great find.
I am not beautiful, but when I was young I was definitely above average, and I dated some men who were actually rather homely in terms of looks. But they had qualities that made a girl overlook their outward appearance. I am betting you can think of at least one guy that you have come across in your life who was far from a 10 in looks yet was able to charm the ladies with his personality.
As for the data about the number of sex partners in the varying generations — data which I also did not look at — I don’t see the point. If the number of sex partners is decreasing with the generations, I consider that a good development. In my mother’s generation, the number was usually one, i.e., one’s spouse. It would be great if we went back to numbers like that.