[SVZ]

Originally Posted by PrettyGirl

^If handsome-ness was solely based on the physical, then any man who had wrinkles, grey hair or some weight gain wouldn't be considered handsome anymore because they were no longer 'ideal' or perfect. That would knock off A LOT of males over the age of 40...and from what we've seen here, there are a lot of people who adore, worship and drool over a lot of actors who are waaaaay past that age and who aren't that physically perfect anymore (or ever were to begin with honestly). And yet, guess what? Some women still consider men who are in their 40's, 50's or even 60's extremely attractive and HANDSOME because the don't consider their imperfections (like receding hairlines, wrinkles, saggy necks or old man lips) because they see something more....they see appeal, classiness or perhaps it's just sheer loyalty and/or arrogance.

So, no, handsome-ness isn't just the physical to a lot of women--it's the whole package, what a man represents as a whole: face, body, personality and charm. And the same holds true for women. Some men may find certain women extremely beautiful not just because of the physical--it's part of it, yes, but not all of it. Most of the time it's everything: personality and demeanor coupled with looks.

Because of anisogamy it's more crucial for women to choose a mate that provides more direct and indirect benefits. indirect benefits are related to things like display features that correlate to "good genes". direct benefits are things like...his bank account, car, social status, etc. women may actually select for older males because this means they've had the enviroment select on them longer, reducing the possibility that they possess any deleterious or timed lethal genes (an indirect benefit, because dating an older man provides no direct benefit if there are comparitavely younger men with the same social status, income, etc). of course cultural influence and social pressures do have an influence, known as mate copying...however it's threshold isn't as high as we might think. I think it's somewhere between 20-30% of difference - which is why it's easier to get someone to agree to brad pitt's physical attractiveness as opposed to daniel craig's physical attractiveness (since there is none it's all charisma)