Is really "attractive looking" an individualistic opinion?

Well, the hive-mind theory of the majority of women is becoming obviously undeniable; and Janissy explained it best in previous pages why women growing with specific definitions of what's hot and what's not.
Her post deserves to be quoted again, it's something that all struggling men here should read:
When I was young (and I'm talking in the early teens, 13 or 14) girls in groups would compare the boys of our school (as well as celebrities from movies/TV) against each other. Boys with certain features (look of hair, of face, of carrying himself etc.) were on the "approved" list of boys to have crushes on. If you had a crush on a boy who did not have at least one of these features, you got shamed by the girls unless you could come up with a redeeming feature that would make up for his lack of other accepted features; plays guitar, has traveled to a another country(which was a big deal in the U.S. because other countries were unattainably distant unless you lived on the Mexican or Canadian border), has an amazing and obscure yet cool skill. Wealth did not factor in because it was a public school attended entirely by kids of the same socioeconomic slice of the middle class so we all shared economic class.
It was some pretty intense social pressure to find certain features attractive. I succumbed to it and would hide crushes on "unacceptable" boys while faking crushes on "acceptable" boys. That sort of pressure let up with age but I think it leaves its' mark.
While the things we found attractive were probably particular to our region (as you discovered), I really doubt that the female social pressure was unique. Girls, especially girls in the 12-15 bracket age, can exert some really fierce peer pressure. This would inevitably freeze out a small handful of male pariahs who didn't have either any of the "hot" traits or any of the traits that were accepted stand-ins for "hot" (if you were ugly but spoke fluent French, you were golden- that lucky boy). Even girls who rebelliously went for out-group boys ("those girls can't tell me what to do") still went for boys with some standout "cool" characteristic (even if it wasn't physical attractiveness) and the pariahs remained pariahs. I would bet lots of money that girls from Morocco to Russia to anywhere in the world have convened the same girl groups to arrive at what the local definition of "hot" will be.
As you discovered, that definition of what is "hot" varies pretty wildly but I suspect the way of arriving at it does not. There really is a local consensus formed in early girlhood of what "attractive" shall be. Even the girls who actively ignore it are still aware of it and aware they are ignoring it (or perhaps rebelling against it).
I suppose a take home lesson for men here is that your fortunes can change by moving. It now occurs to me that some men here have complained that they only get positive attention on dating sites from women very geographically far from them. They curse the terrible luck but perhaps it is showing how regional their perceived unattractiveness may be.
Now, I have two theories why my looks is seen as Pariah/extremely unattractive in some countries like Sweden (0 matches out of 200 swipes), Ukraine (3/200), Germany (I recall it was only 1), and in mixed countries like Canada and US I only got matches with blacks, Asians, Arabs, Persians, Native americans (who are demographically few there) .... in South Africa, I got ONLY matches with blacks - while in other countries like Morocco (~70 of each 100 swipes, I reached like 140/200), Algeria(50/100), Mexico (A LOT), Santiago's Chile (very few), Philippines (crazy numbers..), South Korea (a lot), Kenya(just look above):
Theory 1: Subconscious racism, European Whites, whether they are in Europe, US, Canada, South Africa have still a strong subconscious racism against people of colors, and their women wouldn't want (probably subconsciously) to breed with one of them. As an Arab-looking, I am recognized as a "Person of color" by European whites and their descendants, while women of POC simply don't have this kind of racism. And this feeling may grew in the girl's childhood as explained by Janissy.
Theory 2: Women's subconscious hypergamy, maybe it's a woman thing after all, not just a white woman thing, for many economical and historical reasons that we all know "Whites" are seen as having the highest status in the world (racism may be related), while POC are seen less favorably status-wise.
In other term, a typical white woman doesn't want to be associated romantically with a POC like me because this would feel like a "downgrade" for her status - while a black/asian woman by being associated with me would feel like an "upgrade" for her status (this feeling might be due to internalized racism as well) because I am recognized by them as a white after all. This status thing can also be acquired in childhood as explained by Janissy.
This theory has one flaw tho: It doesn't explain the crazy number of matches in Morocco/Algeria/Tunisia and Mexico because those were thinking I am one of their people; there's no difference at all in facial features between Meghrebs and Levantines.
or 3. people seek out similar people to them. ie whites tend to date whites, blacks/blacks, asians/asians, because they are similar to each other. there's a more fancy term for it but I can't remember. just like blonds being more attracted to other blondes. does that make them hair racists? or how country folk tend to avoid city folk. though there is also the bunch who like people different. ie liking brits over their own people. perhaps why you had such poor luck in sweden where the majority is white so you are different/not similar to them. not to mention its often tied in with a culture clash.
in america for example with hispanics. they tend to have a completely different culture then whites/blacks. so people tend to connect that with skin color. like another person said they may relate you're skin color to arabic culture which to many in usa/europe is quite different and off putting to us. as clearly our culture is to them.
I think to be racist you'd have to hate and think you're better then the other skin color. not just not prefer them. we had a thread about that.
The_Face_of_Boo
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Joined: 16 Jun 2010
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Well, the hive-mind theory of the majority of women is becoming obviously undeniable; and Janissy explained it best in previous pages why women growing with specific definitions of what's hot and what's not.
Her post deserves to be quoted again, it's something that all struggling men here should read:
When I was young (and I'm talking in the early teens, 13 or 14) girls in groups would compare the boys of our school (as well as celebrities from movies/TV) against each other. Boys with certain features (look of hair, of face, of carrying himself etc.) were on the "approved" list of boys to have crushes on. If you had a crush on a boy who did not have at least one of these features, you got shamed by the girls unless you could come up with a redeeming feature that would make up for his lack of other accepted features; plays guitar, has traveled to a another country(which was a big deal in the U.S. because other countries were unattainably distant unless you lived on the Mexican or Canadian border), has an amazing and obscure yet cool skill. Wealth did not factor in because it was a public school attended entirely by kids of the same socioeconomic slice of the middle class so we all shared economic class.
It was some pretty intense social pressure to find certain features attractive. I succumbed to it and would hide crushes on "unacceptable" boys while faking crushes on "acceptable" boys. That sort of pressure let up with age but I think it leaves its' mark.
While the things we found attractive were probably particular to our region (as you discovered), I really doubt that the female social pressure was unique. Girls, especially girls in the 12-15 bracket age, can exert some really fierce peer pressure. This would inevitably freeze out a small handful of male pariahs who didn't have either any of the "hot" traits or any of the traits that were accepted stand-ins for "hot" (if you were ugly but spoke fluent French, you were golden- that lucky boy). Even girls who rebelliously went for out-group boys ("those girls can't tell me what to do") still went for boys with some standout "cool" characteristic (even if it wasn't physical attractiveness) and the pariahs remained pariahs. I would bet lots of money that girls from Morocco to Russia to anywhere in the world have convened the same girl groups to arrive at what the local definition of "hot" will be.
As you discovered, that definition of what is "hot" varies pretty wildly but I suspect the way of arriving at it does not. There really is a local consensus formed in early girlhood of what "attractive" shall be. Even the girls who actively ignore it are still aware of it and aware they are ignoring it (or perhaps rebelling against it).
I suppose a take home lesson for men here is that your fortunes can change by moving. It now occurs to me that some men here have complained that they only get positive attention on dating sites from women very geographically far from them. They curse the terrible luck but perhaps it is showing how regional their perceived unattractiveness may be.
Now, I have two theories why my looks is seen as Pariah/extremely unattractive in some countries like Sweden (0 matches out of 200 swipes), Ukraine (3/200), Germany (I recall it was only 1), and in mixed countries like Canada and US I only got matches with blacks, Asians, Arabs, Persians, Native americans (who are demographically few there) .... in South Africa, I got ONLY matches with blacks - while in other countries like Morocco (~70 of each 100 swipes, I reached like 140/200), Algeria(50/100), Mexico (A LOT), Santiago's Chile (very few), Philippines (crazy numbers..), South Korea (a lot), Kenya(just look above):
Theory 1: Subconscious racism, European Whites, whether they are in Europe, US, Canada, South Africa have still a strong subconscious racism against people of colors, and their women wouldn't want (probably subconsciously) to breed with one of them. As an Arab-looking, I am recognized as a "Person of color" by European whites and their descendants, while women of POC simply don't have this kind of racism. And this feeling may grew in the girl's childhood as explained by Janissy.
Theory 2: Women's subconscious hypergamy, maybe it's a woman thing after all, not just a white woman thing, for many economical and historical reasons that we all know "Whites" are seen as having the highest status in the world (racism may be related), while POC are seen less favorably status-wise.
In other term, a typical white woman doesn't want to be associated romantically with a POC like me because this would feel like a "downgrade" for her status - while a black/asian woman by being associated with me would feel like an "upgrade" for her status (this feeling might be due to internalized racism as well) because I am recognized by them as a white after all. This status thing can also be acquired in childhood as explained by Janissy.
This theory has one flaw tho: It doesn't explain the crazy number of matches in Morocco/Algeria/Tunisia and Mexico because those were thinking I am one of their people; there's no difference at all in facial features between Meghrebs and Levantines.
or 3. people seek out similar people to them. ie whites tend to date whites, blacks/blacks, asians/asians, because they are similar to each other. there's a more fancy term for it but I can't remember. just like blonds being more attracted to other blondes. does that make them hair racists? or how country folk tend to avoid city folk. though there is also the bunch who like people different. ie liking brits over their own people. perhaps why you had such poor luck in sweden where the majority is white so you are different/not similar to them. not to mention its often tied in with a culture clash.
in america for example with hispanics. they tend to have a completely different culture then whites/blacks. so people tend to connect that with skin color. like another person said they may relate you're skin color to arabic culture which to many in usa/europe is quite different and off putting to us. as clearly our culture is to them.
I think to be racist you'd have to hate and think you're better then the other skin color. not just not prefer them. we had a thread about that.
No, my experiment indicates that only whites like whites.
I get a lot of matches with blacks and Asians.
Yes, I think culture and religion play a big role in this. People will just assume that Indians have the traditional family values and have strict parents that won't be happy with a relationship/marriage to someone not of their culture.
so I think i love this girl but I'm afraid she'll hurt me
guy friend: you p***y
guys are very harsh when other guys share emotions with them. guys tend to just do activities together. but women will spend large times just talking about emotions, feelings and what is happening in their lives via using the activities.
guys will judge you and pick on you, women tend to be understanding and try to help.
yeah but most women don't fall for friends

especially if the guy is a true friend and talks about his emotions with them, they see him as lacking confidence. guys come off as confident to women via not sharing emotions and feelings or worries.
I hate when men do that, keep things bottled up, it's like talking to the walls....also when they force that "cool" image and all the confidence BS, it looks so snobbish to me. I prefer to see warts and all otherwise it's just like a theatre play.
and I wouldn't know how women usually do it, since they aren't so eager to do it with me. i've found men to be more understanding and trying to help

I rarely talk about my emotions with the guys - it's usually them doing the talking and occasionally joking.
you're in the minority in that. most women prefer their guys to be confident.
you prefer warts?
sorry they did that to you. I also had women pick on me, the first bullies were two girls when i first got to my new school in 2nd grade.
even at i think it was 6, they knew kicking boys in their privates was super painful so they threaten to do that to me.
I prefer warts in a sense that I like to talk to a real person, not some image they'd project. That's so shallow and boring. Real people are much more interesting than any kind of persona they might invent in order to get accepted. I love it when they share things with me, i don't like those who act like theatre actors.
Women liked to bully me as well, much more than men, sorry you had to go through that as well. They'd threaten to hit me, and since I'm very tiny it usually did the trick.
for me it is. when i meet a woman she goes in my mind as 1. romantic. or 2 friend.
1. leads to me falling in love with them.
2. leads to loving them like a sister.
there is no overlap and one can not become the other. I won't' fall in love with a girl I see as a sister, and I won't ever see a girl I was romantically/sexual into as a sister like.
1. is frustrating to me, 2. would be frustrating to the girl. that said women who go into 2. are those who are in a relationship/married when we met. my mind cuts off all romantic/sexual thoughts for them because they are off the table.
one girl didn't tell me she was dating for 3 weeks, and her profile said single. so she got placed in 1., which lead to 10 months of hell. we don't talk anymore she blocked me, which is best I'm too loyal to end even a toxic friendship. she was really harmful to me.
You're completely like that friend of mine I'd mentioned. He calls me his sister and has similar set of categories into which he places women.
I'm sorry women were harmful to you - it's the same with him. :/ I don't dare to help him any more since I fear more depression and hurt.
and you're ok with it?
one lady seemed ok but eventually we stopped talking because of over reactions on both sides.
2nd didn't like it at all.
3rd said she did but later stopped talking ot me and told others it was creepy. mind you this was after months of saying it was ok.
I don't think I'll ever share how I feel like that again. I learned I'm strange in wrong. its not right to love non friends as family.
why don't you dare help him? why would helping make him more depressed? ^o.o>
I love being his "sister"

Not sure why would that be creepy?

My friend is a lot of things, but would never toss and turn me like that, no man has ever been so whimsical to me like some women. They would talk to me for a while, and then cut me off without explanation, just like you say they did to you.
I think if I were a man, I'd be in a similar position as you are now - clueless and at their mercy.
As for why I'm afraid to help him - well, I tried to help him on OK cupid, but after countless rejections he became so despondent and miserable that it was almost impossible to talk to him. Then I introduced him to that girl I mentioned, and it ended up with even greater depression since she just cut him off one day. I fear it will happen again - he isn't snobbish enough for them. He doesn't care for titles, money or status, he just wants someone to care for him, but it seems it wasn't meant to be. I fear if I try to help some more it might bring even worse disaster and he might become suicidal. It's his life, I think from now on I'll keep away lest I do more damage.
The_Face_of_Boo
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The_Face_of_Boo
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Maybe they are expats and more open to relationships with people of different ethnicities.
Man, of course they are expats.
It's Obama's homeland after all, no? lol
Btw, it's not me who's sending those hellos, it's from them.

The_Face_of_Boo
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I know little of it too but I know that they have a wonderful wild nature; like Madagascar.
And their capital Nairobi looks pretty much modern, at least the nice part of it lol, and so the people living there (those matches are all from Nairobi btw, it's where I set my fake location in Kenya).

But like anywhere in the 3rd world, there are slums of poverty and huge gap of classicism:

I don't think those matches are from the slums' demographic.
Nah, seems you are getting more of the upper class, business professional types. One of the foreign channels I have here is CNN and they have some sort of "international edition" where the commercials are aimed mostly at Africa it seems, and also the wealthier Africans. The people I see there look more modern and more fashionable than people here, the average European seems to look like this:
(only slightly exagerated)
I don't think we even have cities with that many high rise buildings.
The_Face_of_Boo
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The_Face_of_Boo
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The_Face_of_Boo
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