In high school, I thought I was pretty ugly. Ugly and short. I knew I had no chance of attracting a girlfriend based on my looks.
When I look back now, I think that actually I was not so bad. I wish I had known then what I see now. Of course, now I have a gut and untoned muscles and a lot of gray in my hair, so, once again, I think I wouldn’t be very attractive if I needed to be. Fortunately, I don’t need to be. All I have to do is wear presentable clothes, and I’m fine.
I’ve heard that a lot of beautiful women are insecure about themselves because they think that people like them because of the way they look, but don’t take them seriously. There’s this myth that if you’re beautiful, you’re dumb.
I think that looks are much more of an issue for women than men. This will probably always be the case, although men’s looks are becoming increasingly important. At least, to the point where men wear makeup (shudder). Certainly men have always tried to look strong and tough and a little bit bad.
The other factor, besides the ones you mentioned, is modesty. While this seems less and less true, some of us were brought up to be very humble. We never brag about anything, and certainly not looks. We believe it’s not what’s on the outside that counts, but what’s on the inside. Of course, the evidence suggests this is a myth. Beautiful people are smarter, taller, make more money, and mate with hotter people. These days, it seems like everyone is tooting their own horn. “Look at me! I’m the greatest!”
Makes me sick. I wish humility would make a comeback.