By Mariah Bennett | Staff Writer
In January, I wrote an article about my then-opinion — “Pete Davidson is the poster child for looks don’t matter” — diving into how looks aren’t a priority at all when it comes to dating. I still think Pete Davidson is a funny dude who’s going through a rough breakup unrelated to looks. Since then, though, I’ve learned the opinion I held was wrong: Looks do matter (somewhat).
While looks still shouldn’t be the No. 1 priority when it comes to serious dating, they do matter on some level. This is not just a personal opinion; a 2017 research study by Madeleine Fugere found that “looks are often a key factor in forming relationships.” In the same article, another study focusing on women found that “looks heavily influenced their perceptions of male profiles — even if the ‘less attractive’ profiles had good personality qualities, like being honest and trustworthy.”
A Marriage.com article said that looks matter, even if long-lasting relationships don’t solely depend on beauty or physical attraction. “What first attracted you to your partner? You can hardly say it was their sense of humor or their kind nature since you didn’t know them yet,” the article said. It goes on to mention that “a level of attraction is needed to make a relationship work.”
While shared values, a shared foundation, common interests and humor are necessary for a long-term relationship to work, acting like looks don’t matter at all is a bit immature. Attraction has to be there at some point, even if beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
