I have found quite the opposite to be true.
Aesthetically speaking, women have their preferences as to what they desire, but what they say they want, and what they actually want often don't correlate. Their attraction is like a mechanism, and it is not triggered by looks. Despite their words and desires, their attraction mechanism is instinctive and not something that they can contemplate and rationalize. How many times do you hear a woman say that they want a certain type of man, and then end up with the total opposite? A guy can be a 10, pass for a model, and she might be interested, but if she talks to him and she is put off by his body language, then it is over.
I never had any luck with the ladies in High School. In my early 20s I did a lot of research on the biology and psychology of attraction, and also built up my self-esteem so that I could exude genuine, unwavering confidence. Upon researching, I had realized that I was doing just about everything wrong, and was letting my intellect get in the way of my instincts, which was sabotaging my chances.
Now, I would consider myself to be a 5 or a 6 in terms of looks. I've been called "handsome", but never "hot". I have long hair, and back then it was mid-back length and very thick, and I had a scruffy reddish beard to go along with my dark brown hair. I am also 6 ft and ridiculously underweight. If you'd put me on a stage with 10 other men and tell a woman to pick one without meeting any of us, I'd probably be one of her last choices. I often heard "I won't date a man with hair longer than mine", and get comments on my weight, but I learned to disregard the comments because they were irrelevant. In fact, someone that I started a relationship told me just that when we first met, and a week later she admitted that she was having sexual dreams about me, and a few weeks later we were an item. I then asked "I thought you didn't date men with hair longer than yours?" Through body language, I commanded their attention and their attraction. It wasn't what I said, but how I said it. I went from never even so much as having a date in my life, to having 8 different women attracted to me at one time, a guy they'd probably never even consider based off of looks.
Then came male pattern baldness, several years of isolation and obsession, and my confidence was shot, and thus, I haven't had a date in over 5 years and women don't so much as look at me, and it's not because I'm bald, which I'm not, it's because my body language stinks and I have no confidence in myself.
And confidence is not strutting up to a girl and rattling off some lines, and then beating yourself up when she rejects you. Men are going to be rejected no matter what. Confidence is being able to look her in the eye, command the situation, and if she rejects you, it doesn't phase you and you move onto the next woman. I was honestly on a level where a woman could tell me that I'm the ugliest person she's ever seen and it wouldn't have phased me one bit. Now I'm at a point where I'd take it to heart and start seething with rage.
So, I've been on both ends. The same guy went from 22 years of futility, to 2 years of dating around and being a "ladies man", back to 5 years of futility, and all because of my mindset, body language, and self-confidence.
You don't have to agree with that, and that's fine, but that's what holds true in my experience. The results are tangible.
uke: