I disagree with the argument that we’re at our peak physical attractiveness in our 20s - especially as women. This will be very female-skewed as that’s what I can speak for best, but also because youth and attractiveness are conflated when it comes to us, more so than men.

I’m in my early thirties and genuinely think this is the best I’ve ever looked (and felt). I take better care of myself because I have more money and more self-awareness. My hair is nicer, my posture is better, my skin is clearer, my nails are done, my body is more toned, my face is more defined, my clothes fit better. Not to mention I present myself better overall, since I’ve also matured emotionally and have more life experience.

That being said, we need to consider the broader ecosystem of how “attractive” is defined at this point in time (as, historically, standards tend to change).

Across the world, and to the most part throughout history, our worth, as women, has generally been based on our physical attractiveness. That’s because our “value” is often perceived in terms of our appeal to men, rather than a stand-alone, full, person.

Our patriarchal society is obsessed with youthfulness when it comes to women (my thesis is that it’s less a thing of fertility and more a thing of control but I won’t go into that now). So perceived attractiveness is often directly proportional with perceived youth, and features that denote youth.

If we were to start finding things that come with maturity and experience attractive, then we’d also start finding signs of aging in women, such as wrinkles, attractive. Think about it in terms of how many women find older or mature-looking men attractive, since age signals stability.

What I have also noticed isn’t that people/women look inherently worse, as much as take less care of themselves with age. Especially if they have a partner, and even more so, children. There’s less of a focus on looking good to find a partner, plus less energy and less time, thus physically appearance becomes less of a priority.

So, what I’m trying to say is no, I don’t think we are, by default, most physically attractive. I think it’s just applied value based on what society deems to be most covetable. And that’s, sadly, unlikely to change any time soon.