It seems as if beauty and physical/sexual attractiveness has been lumped together. Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but it seems that we have particular standards of human attractiveness. The social advantages of being attractive are very clear, studies are confirming what people have thought all along. In a nutshell, attractive people get paid higher, are considered more competent and get laid more. Yes, I know some extremely intelligent, competent people who are not necessarily very attractive.

The question really seems to be whether people actually prefer mates that are more symmetrical because they actually have "superior" genetics or whether people prefer mates that are more symmetrical/attractive because it is a social advantage. Certainly, having children that are attractive gives them a social advantage in life. I really would like to see more conclusive evidence that less symmetrical/less attractive people are inferior genetically. Socially disadvantaged - yes, innately less competent, I doubt it. It seems that less attractive people need to work harder.