Why looks matter...but they don't.

[alfonzo]

Individual girls perceptions of our looks are mostly subjective. While replication value factors such as facial symmetry and body type may play a role, female attraction is more based around social proof than anything else.

That about handles the basics.

Now, consider this example: A girl sees a new boy at school and feels that he is attractive. The boy happens to be a good looking fella, but not so good looking that all girls find him instantly attractive. Occasionally girls even find him ugly. Nonetheless, this girl begins to talk to her friends about how cute the new guy is. BOOM! preselection. Then as the preselection ball gets rolling more and more (exponentially more in high school especially due to close concentration of insecure girls,) girls begin to find that kid attractive, and for them the only possible explanation for them is that he's good looking. Hence, the misconception that guys looks are hugely important in high school.
Does this make any sense?

[Amb1valence]

So, you're saying if you're a handsome stud, you don't have to do shit; you'll be preselected throughout your high school career and basically have chicks hanging off the end of your dick.

But if you're not you'll have to be preselected some other way. Like through your personality. Sounds good haha

[Contempt]

Yeah, but thats mainly true for those guys in the middle 50%. Some guys just have good looks that girls love. And others don't (not to be mean). Not to say that the girls are attracted to the guy with good looks and hate the guys who's ugly. I've heard girls say a ton "Oh he's super hot, he's just a total douche" etc. I think the rule above mostly applies for attraction in general, not looks. Girls are attracted to social proof, they don't think it makes them good looking. That being said, some girls saying to another girl that a guy is hot may make that girl NOTICE that guy and/or his looks. It will certainly make her check him out. It won't change his looks though.

[theory]

I definitely agree with this. I have a friend who I hang out with both at school and at a sports team. At school he is considered average (nothing special in terms of looks) but on the sports team there was a girl who really liked him and would constantly tell all the other girls how hot he was, this led to all the other girls on the team to be interested in him and find him attractive as well. Its been 2 years and he is still considered to be ridiculously hot by the other girls on the team because of that one original girl, despite still being an average guy at school