As, I'm getting older I'm noticing that my own and other men's looks don't tend to change much, but that as women age past 25 and 30 a lot of the ones that were cute while in highschool or in college have gained a lot of weight since then and just don't seem to invest as much effort into the upkeep of their appearance as they once did resulting in a situation where it is difficult to find women past a certain age that one would want to date or have a relationship with. 

Why is that?

I agree there needs to be an attraction but a lot of women over 30 are mothers and that takes its toll.

BTFeather you're 35, unemployed and spend your days on a gaming website (maybe you should look at the person and not how they look and they might do the same for you?)

I take it this is a rant that you can't find a woman ...? one thats up to your standards anyway.

evolution has caused a female body to keep up its metabolism, shape, etc whatever it is that keeps their looks to attract males. once they have given birth, their body normally does not return to that state since they have completed their biological job of producing offspring.

so you'll see a lot of girls in her 30s who look pretty good because they havent given birth.

sociologically girls will not tend to themselves as much once they have a committed partner. when you are younger, people fall in and out of relationships all the time. once ppl are older, this is not the case and so this period of not tending to themselves gets extended.

 Actually, I'm doing a bit better financially these days.  You see my dad was a lawyer and its true that I didn't inherit any of the $400,000.00 in legally known funds (or any of the massive amounts of cash money that he kept hidden in the law encyclopedias and files in his office) like his third wife of two years did when he died over a decade ago; however, my grandparents used to funnel some money my way, so back in the 90's I bought a lot of things that I kept in good condition (like unopened hardcover books and lots of comic books that I would read through once then put in plastic bags with cardboard backings -- I have a two pack of novels by Stephen King that has been unopened since '96 that Amazon lists as being worth $200.00 and a Superman comic that comicspriceguide.com lists as being worth $20.00 up for auction on ebay right now for example).

So, since I've started selling things of this nature I've been having a bit easier time financially; however, it is true that my past criminal record does tend to keep me from getting many jobs (although its also true that where I live many of the best looking women don't tend to mind to date men that have criminal records all that much.  I guess I just never developed a knack for certain other more lucrative ways of making money that some other folks dabble in although according to this weeks paper 24 of them were caught in a sting operation).

Still, I would like to think that in my original post I was writing about the plight of most single men past a certain age rather than just my own. 

Sorry to hear about your CR, I understand that can make things a bit more difficult. Anyway to properly answer your OP, they say life begins at 30 (or 40?) I think when most women get to that age they accept they're ageing and tend to relax and not worry about their weight or appearence so much. plus its just easier to look better naturally in your 20's than when you're older.

I don't know anything about women so this is all guess work :P

Well... I'm guessing that beautiful 30+ women just don't want to speak to you... It has nothing to do with them and everything to do with you... :P

 Admittedly that could be the problem.  However, I've noticed that things work two ways on that.  Let's say a guy isn't attractive enough to land one of the really attractive ones.  However, on the other hand, he is much too great to settle for one of the unattractive ones either, so what is a person to do?

You all go take a lesson on how not to be so shallow.

Well, it's a thread about looks. Sure it's shallow but it's the topic.

And on that, I have the exact opposite impression. Women around me seem to 1) age better than men 2) put more effort into keeping in shape. Especially in that 30-50 range, I can't usually estimate women's age very well at all. After that, for really old people, for some reason men look better again.

In the end though it might also be who you're actually looking at.

 Want some ice for that burn?