Society has always placed a high importance on looks, and how someone presents themselves. We tend to care a decent amount about what a person is wearing, how their bodies, hair, face, and makeup looks. Why is it that we tend to focus more on looks compared to someone's personality, their capabilities, or their intelligence? What exactly do we determine to be attractive? According to Merriam-Webster, "attractive" means "having a pleasing appearance; especially: having a pleasing appearance that causes interest, having a feature or quality that people like."

To some people, an attractive guy may be someone who's athletic, with a muscular build, dubbed with abs quite possibly. Others might prefer guys that have the "dad-bod" or other attributes. Some people might say that an attractive girl is one that is curvy, while others might prefer slender girls, and also athletic girls. You might prefer someone that has blue eyes, while another person might prefer brown or hazel eyes. Maybe you like someone that has brown hair and maybe your friend likes someone with blonde hair. We all prefer certain qualities and attributes, our tastes are personal and specific.

According to an article on Yahoo, "While the most universal measure of attractiveness is a symmetrical face, there are lots of other factors at play." From your mood at the time to the color someone’s wearing, “a lot of attractiveness is contextual and not set in stone,” Gary W. Lewandowski Jr., department chair of psychology at Monmouth University and co-creator of the website Science of Relationships said. I think this statement is true because sometimes our tastes in things will change. Say for example, a guy didn't feel a strong attraction to a girl, but then one day she's wearing a red dress, and suddenly he becomes more attracted to her. There are studies that show that certain colors can increase the attractiveness of something or someone. This proves that attraction is likely to change, and doesn't rely on one specific thing (aka looks). If you are in a bad mood, your attraction to others could change as well.

An article on HerCampus explains, "Believe it or not, chemical reactions in our brains are what make us lust over someone that has somehow struck our fancy. There is no actual physical formula that someone must possess to make our brains react that way to some people instead of others (depending on their looks). Some people, my friend for example, have not been affected by the universal idea of beauty, and perceive people according to their own physical preferences." I agree with this because everyone prefers certain things. Compare our preferences of food, or preferences of sports to our preferences of looks. We all like different things. There isn't an underlying reason that makes us choose to like something, it mostly has to do with chemistry. Or maybe we enjoy things that we aren't really used to, which might make us like things that are more "out there" or "exotic" rather than liking things that go with the social norms.

I think that everyone has their own preferences. Some people may share the same preferences, while others might have different preferences. You have to be attracted to someone physically for any chemistry to exist between you two. Personality plays a huge part in attractiveness, but it may not be the main reason why you might find someone to be attractive (at least, not all the time). Personally, I believe that you must be attracted to someone physically first, but once you get to know them, their personality or other attributes are what can get you to become more attracted to them. Attraction does not rely on just looks, but can be altered by colors, mood, and certain qualities.