Men may have a thing or two to learn from the latest internet trend, which begins with someone giving a “rating” followed by a “but,” outlining specific character traits that either increase or decrease one’s attractiveness. This style of video began on TikTok, with girls giving different hypothetical scenarios, most being very specific things, that appear to be drastic enough to either make someone completely unappealing or give them a leg up.
While some are simply funny observations, like “he is a 10, but he pronounces ‘library’ like ‘library’” bringing someone down to a 3, others reveal genuine things that women value above appearance, such as a “5” going up to a “9” for getting along well with your family. Funnily enough, the TikToker “jonnybjohn” actually compiled information from various videos that girls have shared on the app expressing their likes and dislikes in a partner, creating a spreadsheet that reveals certain traits and attributes that can severely impact a score, positively or negatively. While many are superficial things, like “owns a boat” bringing someone up about 3 points, other observations are valid concerns someone may have in finding a long-term partner that seems inconsequential, including the importance of being nice to waiters at a restaurant and being a good communicator.
Common recurring themes that tend to bring men up from lower ratings up to a “9” or “10” spot generally concern their sense of humor, good fashion taste, and relationships with their own family as well as your family. Subsequently, people who are more attractive in the ratings are instantly brought down when they don’t meet this criteria, such as someone who is a “10” but is mean to their mom is brought down to a “0” and not even worth considering.
While the point of this trend is to have some lighthearted fun, it was originally started by women and has now been adopted by some men on TikTok, causing some irritation as many videos created by men tend to prioritize the appearance of women, such as things like body type bringing women up in rating, but “wearing too much makeup” may bring them down. Women on TikTok have urged men to hop off of this trend and leave it for the girls to do, considering that many videos made by men with this theme do not actually outline traits that men truly value in women.
Overall, trends will come and go, but this one seems to be consistently entertaining as women come up with creative attributes that may tip the scales in terms of whether someone could actually be considered as a viable partner.
