It may not be fair, but human beings are primarily visual creatures. We don't have the eyes of eagles, but any dog will tell us that we see better than we smell or hear. A person is able to pick out someone they're attracted to from across the room, long before they have a chance to make a judgment about personality, brains, marital status or any of a million other variables that contribute to attractiveness and availability.

Is it any wonder that looks have become paramount in the selection our future mates and dates? Whether or not it's fair or appropriate, we're going to continue judging one another based on how we look.

Men are a varied group
We're not as individual as snowflakes, but we're certainly not cut from the same mold. Not every man reads Maxim, not every man's opening line is "Nice rack" and not every man's eyes inevitably wander southward during conversations with attractive women.

But because we're a visual species, because we depend on what we see to make a snap judgment about any number of things, physical characteristics are nonetheless critical when we're trying to decide if someone is right for us. Since guys have different tastes, it's hard to say what characteristic is most crucial in determining our level of attraction.

Myself, I value the collarbone very highly, and I recently learned that I'm not alone. If a woman has a shapely collarbone, many men generally find her more attractive. That's not to say I focus on the collarbone while ignoring other potentially shapely regions, but it's certainly the first thing I try to see. And like other characteristics, a comely collarbone isn't a dealbreaker, though the first item of focus tends to be weighted more heavily than others.

A lot of guys I know look at women's eyes. Color, shape, size, spacing. Personally I don't care what a woman's eyes are like, as long as one generally lines up parallel with the other, but many guys place women's eyes on the top of their list of important characteristics.

More traditional characteristics
Women who are reading this, and who are justifiably tired of talking to guys who carry on conversations with their cleavage, might be surprised to learn that a lot of men — possibly even the majority — don't necessarily value cup-size above all other criteria.

Of course this isn't the case for all men. I know plenty who are only interested in the relative shapeliness of a woman's breasts and really don't bother to pay attention to the rest of the package. It's a disappointing and often offensive trend that's probably not going away anytime soon. For whatever reason, breasts fascinate most of us, and we just can't help but look sometimes. Please bear with us.

A woman's legs, of course, may be the most famous of all desirable characteristics. The old "nice legs" adage is a big deal for men. Again it's not fair, since lots of men out there have legs that would look better on a terrier than a human being, but it's the way things are. Many women, realizing the opportunity to attract, go to considerable effort to highlight their legs. For this you have our eternal gratitude and, perhaps less desirable, our wide and ogling eyes.

It's not all about looks
What you see is what you get when it comes to physical characteristics. Luckily, if a woman has the perfect body but terrible body odor, chances are she's going to get shot down. Just being hot isn't good enough. The same goes for men, and though we tend to be selfishly less concerned with our appearance, women can take solace in the knowledge that as much as men may judge physical characteristics very highly, we understand that women have every right to do the same.

Washboard abs and nice biceps aren't going to save a guy who flunked the second grade nine times. Perhaps the wisest step women could take is to assign as much value to looks as men do — thereby making us feel like pieces of meat on display and, more importantly, demanding that we spend an extra fifteen minutes on the treadmill now and then.

Search for local singles and find a cutie with body and brains today!