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Using Your Looks to Your Advantage: HER SIDE

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Pitt chapter.

For as long as males have been attracted to females’ physical beauty, females have been using it to their advantage. Whether it’s a good conversation, a free drink, or some private time with that hottie across the room, some women know how to get exactly what they want with minimal effort. However, this begs the question of whether this practice is actually morally sound, and what the possible consequences could be. Sure there are some women who take it too far and manipulate men to no end, but, as with most things in life, when done in moderation, using your looks for personal gain is relatively harmless.

I’m sure no one would be surprised to hear that men typically favor more attractive women over less attractive ones. To further prove my point, I ask you to imagine this scenario:

“Chris is driving down the highway when he sees a car pulled over on the shoulder with its hood propped open and a female bent over inspecting the engine.”

Do you think Chris is more likely to pull over and assist the female if she is wearing sweatpants and has a relatively irritated demeanor, or if she is wearing a mini skirt and looks friendly? I’d be willing to bet a significant sum of money that the answer is the latter. So, when a woman is distressed and in need of some assistance, she wants to find someone that is most likely to help her with no questions asked. Unfortunately, sometimes that requires a smile in the direction of the nice looking man that’s already been checking you out.

Should it be this way? No, of course not. People should be willing to help those in need regardless of what they look like. But, until men step up their good Samaritan game, in a way women really don’t have a choice. You can try to fix the problem on your own or even seek the help of a fellow woman, but if you’re really stuck, flirting with a male is almost infallible.

However, women are not always using their looks to get what they want with no intention of giving anything in return aside from the satisfaction of interacting with a fine lady. A lot of times females employ their looks as a conversation starter and wouldn’t mind pursuing something further after they receive the benefits reserved for pretty girls. This is especially true in the case of the nightlife.

Women who put extra effort into their appearance to go out on the town surely garner more attention from males than those who don’t care for getting dolled up. Women know men only approach the women in bars whom they find exceptionally attractive. Of course it’s an ego boost when you are picked out of a crowd by a male, and some women thrive on that (sorry, feminists). However, if I choose to go home with my friends after downing a drink purchased by a male and scrawling down a fake number on a dirty napkin, then he just didn’t spark my interest enough to want anything more from him. Just because a man chooses to buy me a drink doesn’t mean I owe him anything at all. Men should know that beverages bought for a cute female in a bar don’t always have a high return on investment.

Women should not be bearing the brunt of the blame for this phenomenon of using their looks to their advantage. The only reason females continue to use this tactic is because men let it work in the first place. Males are just as willing to reward females for looking good as females are to try for it.  It’s no secret that men only do this because they think it gives them an increased chance of getting in said female’s pants, and maybe it does. Who knows?

However, a lot of times women aren’t even striving for any tangible bonuses when men jump at any chance to shower it on them in the hopes that it will give them an edge in gaining what they want, namely something of the sexual nature, later on down the line. Even if all women stopped dressing provocatively to gain male attention, men would create new criteria to determine above average attractiveness in order to locate the most desirable female in the room. To change this tradition of the most beautiful women in society being the most valued, it must start with the men ending their objectification of women.

As long as men keep giving in and letting attractive girls have special benefits, women will keep looking for opportunities to gain just that. Let your beauty flag fly, ladies.

Hey, I'm Chris Baker and I just began writing for HerCampus at Pitt. I love God, my family and friends, sports, and my amazing fraternity, Pi Kappa Phi. I love to talk, write, and engage with people, in particular, I like to argue, haha. I love Pitt so if you go here and don't already know me, you should find me and get to know me! Contact me anytime at cbb17@pitt.edu,Thanks for reading!