# What is the point of being attractive ? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 16, 2006, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-being-attractive/384447 "2006-12-16T23:35:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![blinkingblinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@blinkingblinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinkingblinking)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-being-attractive/384447/1 "2006-12-16T23:35:52Z")
Almost everyone gets the chance to have kids. I see many very unattractive people who get married or have boy/girl friend and have kids. But our society is obsessed with attractive people. What is the point of being attractive ? The fat ugly women of the world often seem to have 6 kids. While the attractive rich people live in apartments with no kids or an only child. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-being-attractive/384447/2 "2006-12-16T23:37:04Z")
Sex Next question. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![blinkingblinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@blinkingblinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinkingblinking)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-being-attractive/384447/3 "2006-12-16T23:40:27Z")
You are not answering the question. There are fat ugly people having lots of sex. Probably with other unattractive people ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-being-attractive/384447/4 "2006-12-16T23:45:34Z")
[QUOTE=blinkingblinking] You are not answering the question. There are fat ugly people having lots of sex. Probably with other unattractive people [/QUOTE] Most people prefer to have sex with people they find attractive. Being unattractive oneself doesn’t necessarily diminish this desire. Attractive people find it easier to have sex with people _they_ find most attractive. There you go. It’s about sex. ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-being-attractive/384447/5 "2006-12-16T23:48:09Z")
As someone who has spent a few years as “Indifferent to Appearance” and a few years as “At Least Somewhat Attractive”, let me say, it’s got its perks. I am only exaggerating slightly when I say that nearly everything in life gets a little bit easier when you’re lookin’ good. P.S. Don’t sell Sex short. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2006, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-being-attractive/384447/6 "2006-12-16T23:53:22Z")
The answer has partially been states. Being attractive means that you have a better chance of having sex with other attractive people. Attractiveness in and of itself consists of things like a healthy body weight, proper height, healthy teeth and eyes, and facial symmetry. These are direct or indirect markers for health and good genes. It is about finding the most healthy and desirable person one can to procreate with. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-being-attractive/384447/7 "2006-12-17T00:00:19Z")
Good looking people [make more money.](http://money.cnn.com/2005/04/08/news/funny/beautiful_money/) > [@](#): > > Good-looking, slim, tall people tend to make more money than their plain-Jane counterparts, according to a study released this month by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, with researchers finding that beautiful people tend to earn 5 percent more an hour than their less comely colleagues. > > \< snip \> > > If that weren’t enough, the Fed also discovered a “plainness penalty,” punishing below-average-looks with earnings of 9 percent less an hour. > > \< snip \> > > Economists also found that women considered obese in terms of their body mass index (BMI) in both 1981 and 1988 earned 17 percent less than women within their recommended BMI range. > > And while weight seemed to dog women, short men get the short end of the stick. Economists found a “height premium” among white men, with a 1.8-percent increase in wages for every additional inch of height over the national median. ---
**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-being-attractive/384447/8 "2006-12-17T00:17:41Z")
In fact it causes a lot of animosity. You think women bitch? Men hate other men for being attractive. It flies in the face of the entire masculine culture where killing the mammoth and discovering fire is the way to more sex. And no, muscles don’t count, that’s stilll an achievement/potential thing. It’s a slap in the face to everything men are taught for passive attraction to work. So yes, the main benefit of being attractive is to have hot partners that cause angst to your enemies. Secondly, it evades the need to spend up big to acquire said hot partners. Some don’t need a Ferrari or an Armani wardrobe. The secret is that those are for unattractive men. Why I’m given to understand that one male member of this board has a current eurasian partner, half his age, occuring entirely according to the passive male scenario outlined above. Being attractive? Its’ the bees knees. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-being-attractive/384447/9 "2006-12-17T00:31:48Z")
[QUOTE=blinkingblinking] You are not answering the question. There are fat ugly people having lots of sex. Probably with other unattractive people [/QUOTE] Exactly. You get to screw better looking people. And, hey, some sex isn’t as good as MORE sex. More sex with better looking people is worth being gorgeous. [QUOTE=Sevastopol] You think women bitch? Men hate other men for being attractive. It flies in the face of the entire masculine culture where killing the mammoth and discovering fire is the way to more sex. [/QUOTE] Perhaps you are a woman. I’ve never given much thought to how attractive other men are, and I can’t think of any male acquaintances who seem to care, either. Men don’t have a “culture.” We have hockey and beer. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-being-attractive/384447/10 "2006-12-17T04:08:46Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] Men don’t have a “culture.” We have hockey and beer. [/QUOTE] Hockey is for girls. Little girls with pigtails who have crushes on The Backstreet Boys. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-being-attractive/384447/11 "2006-12-17T04:29:21Z")
Many attractive woman don’t realize how many things are done for them BECAUSE they are attractive. An attractive women on the side of the road with a flat tire is going to get someone to stop and help a lot faster than someone who isn’t attractive. The problem is that they have experienced this kind of behavior all their life so they think it is normal. Finally around 40 years old, things begin to change and they are forced to join the rest of the population. The reason for this behavior is, of course, that men love to have sex with attractive women. And they think, usually mistakenly, that by being helpful, they increase their chances of doing so. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-being-attractive/384447/12 "2006-12-17T14:09:11Z")
[QUOTE=friedo] Hockey is for girls. Little girls with pigtails who have crushes on The Backstreet Boys. [/QUOTE] [I don’t think so.](http://www.lyricsdownload.com/arrogant-worms-me-like-hockey-lyrics.html) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-being-attractive/384447/13 "2006-12-17T19:20:26Z")
Being attractive is not the same as being beautiful. A beautiful woman can lose all chance of being attractive when she opens her mouth; an attractive woman becomes beautiful when she smiles. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-being-attractive/384447/14 "2006-12-17T20:33:09Z")
Speaking from the male point of view we tend not to have our attention drawn across a crowded room to the woman with the most attractive personality but to the best looking, and then I suspect we tend to assess their personality to fit their looks . Flaws instead of being irritating are rationalised as "cute"or “lovable” and as such desirable traits ,if they say something stupid we smile beningly enjoying a warm feeling of protectiveness. But if a plain women says something dumb we are impatient with them and think they’re bloody stupid. The other side of the coin is where we treat very intelligent women who happen to be beautiful as well as gifted as helpless airheads . I’m not proud of it but I’m as guilty as the next man,something to do with theromes maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-being-attractive/384447/15 "2006-12-17T20:35:24Z")
Speaking from the male point of view we tend not to have our attention drawn across a crowded room to the woman with the most attractive personality but to the best looking, and then I suspect we tend to assess their personality to fit their looks . Flaws instead of being irritating are rationalised as "cute"or “lovable” and as such desirable traits ,if they say something stupid we smile beningly enjoying a warm feeling of protectiveness. But if a plain women says something dumb we are impatient with them and think they’re bloody stupid. The other side of the coin is where we treat very intelligent women who happen to be beautiful as well as gifted as helpless airheads . I’m not proud of it but I’m as guilty as the next man,something to do with pheromes maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2006, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-being-attractive/384447/16 "2006-12-17T21:01:55Z")
[QUOTE=Lust4Life] theromes maybe? [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Lust4Life] pheromes maybe? [/QUOTE] Pheromones. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-being-attractive/384447/17 "2006-12-18T00:59:58Z")
[QUOTE=Der Trihs] Pheromones. [/QUOTE] Yeah but even though i’m a bloke i’m incredibly attractive so that my fatigue error is engagingly cute rather then daft. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-being-attractive/384447/18 "2006-12-18T02:28:51Z")
[QUOTE=Sevastopol] Why I’m given to understand that one male member of this board has a current eurasian partner, half his age, occuring entirely according to the passive male scenario outlined above. [/QUOTE] Who are you talking about? ---
**Author:** ![Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enter_the_Flagon)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-being-attractive/384447/19 "2006-12-18T02:52:48Z")
[QUOTE=Sevastopol] In fact it causes a lot of animosity. You think women bitch? Men hate other men for being attractive. [/QUOTE] In 46 years, I’ve seen virtually no evidence that this is true. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2006, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-being-attractive/384447/20 "2006-12-18T03:14:52Z")
[QUOTE=Lust4Life] Flaws instead of being irritating are rationalised as "cute"or “lovable” and as such desirable traits ,if they say something stupid we smile beningly enjoying a warm feeling of protectiveness. But if a plain women says something dumb we are impatient with them and think they’re bloody stupid. [/QUOTE] Nice observation. I hadn’t considered that, but it’s true. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-point-of-being-attractive/384447.md?page=2)