(August 22, 2023 at 2:50 am)FrustratedFool Wrote: From my limited exposure to BP ideas, it seems that once you strip away the self-pity and misogynic rhetoric, what you're left with is the idea that physically attractive people have a much easier time dating than physically unattractive people, and that beautiful people will be treated better in various ways than ugly people.
To me, that seems just a blindingly obvious truth. And yet I see many people argue against it saying that physical appearance doesn't matter, which to be seems an obvious lie.
Is it as simple as it appears to me?
I'm sure that visually appealing people are attractive to more people.
However I don't think it's as simple as some people being born with good looks and some people not. A lot of what makes visual appeal has to do with style, with confidence, with behavior, etc. If someone makes an effort to be well put together, takes care of himself, and comes across as likable, then chances are he will be remembered as attractive-looking.
Several times I've read biographies of people who are described as gorgeous and charming, and then when you find a photo of that person they look completely normal. For example Oscar Wilde's boyfriend, who got him into so much trouble. He's described by all his friends as being a Greek god, but in the photos he's about a 7 at best.
Likewise the movie stars who seem preternaturally beautiful on screen, but if you see a candid shot taken on the street they're no better than the girl at the local supermarket.
I think a lot of guys who come across as a 3 could probably get up to an 8 with the proper stylist, coaching, and counseling.
Plus there are objectively ugly-looking men (Sartre, Stravinsky) who bedded many women who were out of their league looks-wise due to other kinds of appeal. Stravinsky had wonderful style in clothes and old-world manners, and of course talent is an aphrodisiac.
