A friend asked: When looking for potential partners, how much does physical attractiveness play a role?

I answered: " I'm very into looks.... Someone has to look excited about the world, happy about the things around them. They have to look at the things around them and think about them. They have to look at me, and like what they see. I love it when they give me looks of attraction and interest, and I love to give those to other people as well.

I'm VERY into looks like those.

In terms of physical appearance, I like people whose physical appearance tells something about them that I find appealing, like the idea that they don't give a fuck about social norms of beauty. Like bright colors to indicate they're a happy person... Colored hair to indicate a sense of artistry and creativity... geeky t-shirts that indicate they're into things that I'm into... stuff like that.

But usually, when people ask these questions, they mean "looks" in terms of how well it matches the definition of beauty as defined by white heterosexual cisgender US culture. I Don't give two shits about how well someone matches that.. In fact, the more someone matches white heterosexual cisgender US beauty norms, the less attractive I find them."