The truth is simple, both men and women feel pressured to 'look good' even when others aren't judging them. I have rarely encountered someone who is bold enough to say that, in their opinion - I'm ugly. Likewise, I have scarcely encountered a person who is willing to say, "Dye your hair jet-black - you would be so much sexier in my eyes." Still though, I feel compelled to stay in shape for more than health reasons and maintain a certain level of personal appearance. On a subconscious level, we all vainly worry (to some extent) about what others think of us. Truly, I don't like to think of myself as vain or even as a person who worries about what others think. I feel others are the same way - we semi-automatically force ourselves into a vicious cycle of 'denial' and vain fear. It's only a select number of individuals who actually cave-in to these feelings and embrace cruelly mocking, and judging others as they believe people are them. A sort of self-defence mechanism I suppose. Attack to defend.
I'm straying from my point though, which is this; we all fear what others think and respond accordingly - regardless of gender. We do this despite knowing that, deep down, there is no way of pleasing everybody and catering to everyones taste. Height, weight, penis size, breast size, muscle-mass and any other physical trait are different in everybody. In the same way, peoples preferences are all different and vary enormously. Most people realise all this and so, (to some degree) disregard all these traits. They look at more fundamental and important things first and physical attractiveness second. What reaches out and grabs peoples attention is kindness, individuality, personality, sense of humour and intelligence. So, in conclusion - I wouldn't be able to say that men have it any easier or harder than women. You could argue for example, that men are more 'lusty' and would employ (assuming they're straight) a female secretary with a short-skirt over a perfectly competent male. An example of a woman using her looks and very gender to get what she wants. On the other hand, you could then argue that a woman finds it much more difficult to find a job with importance and power in a 'man's world'; where women are looked upon as sex-objects and little more. Apologies for the rant. :smile: