The idea of beauty is reinforced based on societal preference. That said, world being more connected nowadays, and the media peddling certain looks, I'm not even sure if anymore if it's a free-market preference, but there are somewhat certain features that I personally gravitate to. But I think what is actually at play is the exploitation of taste, which simply means what we're lacking and yearning for. Like what a friend said before may have certain truth to it - "Since everybody can be good, my as well go for the hot one", but I beg to differ since beauty can really turn around once you're close enough and that person turns out to be a pain in the ass (which happens more often than not after some time).