'Looks Aren't Everything.'

The fuck they aren't.

How many times have you heard someone tell you that looks aren't everything?  Whether you're feeling like shit about your looks, or you're critiquing the looks of someone else, some jackass in the vicinity is going to say it.  And it's not like he can come up with any other way to say it, that isn't cliche.  He's just going to keep saying it the same way over and over again, until the sentence has absolutely no meaning at all.

We can't even blame American culture at this point.  I mean, sure, we're the most vain human beings on the planet.  But it isn't just us.  No matter where you go, there are visual markers that we judge each other on.  Certain cultures have visual status symbols, like you see in the Natty G magazines, with dudes with giant plates in their lips.  That's a tangible symbol.  The bigger the plate in your lip, the more of a G you are.  Rabbis have beards and curls to set them apart, among other things.  The Chinese like small feet for a woman.  No matter where or when you look, you're doing just that: looking.

To say that you don't judge on looks is the biggest bunch of bullshit in the world.  As much as I would love to say that looks don't matter and certainly aren't everything, I'd be the biggest liar on the planet.  Our world is one in which our primary sense is visual.  Before we learn to speak, we see everything.  Our subconscious picks up things in our peripheral vision that we aren't even aware we're seeing.  So much stock is put in sight.  We have glasses to correct our vision, and surgery to correct our vision when we're worried about how we look.  The world is made of millions of colors and patterns to please our eyes because we rely so much on sight.

So, with sight being such an important factor in our lives, why wouldn't we base most of our decisions on what we see?  To be fair, we don't always choose what we find aesthetically pleasing.  I love the color blue.  Why?  Couldn't say.  I just really love the color.  Our favorite everythings are different because we respond to different visual stimuli.  Does our society dictate a lot of what we find appealing? Absolutely.  But just as much of it are things that we have no control over.

To say that looks aren't everything defies our brain entirely.  Sure, you can't marry someone that repulses you, but you'll also never be happy with someone that you aren't sexually attracted to.  A good conversation is important, but we need serotonin.  Even if you're only slightly attracted to someone's looks, that is still sexual attraction.  It's animalistic at best, but it's a biological response we need.  I would never lie to someone and tell them not to worry about how they look because looks aren't everything.  Looks are a lot of it.  Being attractive gets you a lot of places in life.  Do I wish this were not the case?  Yes and no.  I don't want to live in a vain world, but I sure as hell want to live in a pretty one.

Looks honestly aren't everything, but you can't expect people not to judge you on how you look ever.  If you realize how much humans use their visual world to make judgements, flip it back on them and use it to your advantage.