The Beautiful and the Bland

Attraction is such a funny thing. I know there are all sort of theories about why we find certain people attractive - facial symmetry, genetics etc - but sometimes I just find it so... strange.

On the one hand there are people who are almost universally attractive. I know they're not for everyone but there are people like Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, etc who seem to be considered attractive by a pretty high proportion of people. Similarly there are some people who are probably considered universally unattractive - the man who regularly sleeps outside and occasionally masturbates near the Northbridge Re-Store, for example.

But even though there are these people who are widely considered very attractive or unattractive there are still huge variations between what individual people find attractive. The lovely Jade and I both worship at the altar of James Franco, for instance, and have similar taste when it comes to hypothetical hotties, including Ali’s incredibly-hot-friend-whose-name-I-won’t-mention-here-lest-it-be-used-against-me. But when it comes to real life boys we are in no danger of chasing after the same one. Similarly, I have a fair bit in common with most of my close friends but none of their boyfriends are my type (no offence to Cam/John/Shaun etc as you’re all lovely) and I'm sure it's a case of visa versa.

I quite like the idea that a person's genetics can motivate them to choose a partner best suited (genetically speaking) to them and the future survival of their progeny. It makes some sense and it's got a certain appeal to it somehow. The theory breaks down, however, when it comes to a certain pair of twins I know who have very different girlfriends. Granted, the girls do share the same name but, in appearance and personality, they are very different. Maybe at a molecular level they have a certain similarity but... eh, I doubt it (what do you think Kate #2?).

Surely some of what we find attractive or unattractive is to do with society and what images we get told are 'beautiful' or 'attractive'. But, then again, if this was entirely the case we'd all be going after the same person which, as I say, is sometimes the case but not always.

I don’t really have a conclusion to make here or a hypothesis to put forward - this is just me musing on why I can find Jonas Armstrong so delectable but be left cold when it comes to the masturbator down the road or, if you prefer, someone like Matthew Mcconaughey who many seem to like but who I find about as attractive as a tree.

I suppose it is a good thing that there is still some mystery about why we fancy the people we do. Falling in love would probably be less fun if you knew it was the product of biology or social conditioning. I’m very grateful, too, that people do have different likes and dislikes when it comes to partners. Otherwise we would probably all be going after the same people, meaning, for a start, that I would have a lot more competition for Cillian Murphy’s affection than I do right now. Because, clearly, I'm well and truly in the running for that one.