"For me a woman's ultimate value is her empathy, and tenderness."
Could you honestly say you would date someone who looked like Roseanne Bar or Susan Boyle if they happened to have those qualities? Inevitably there are going to be women you wouldn't find attractive either. The positive side of the gym advice is that it's a simple, straightforward course of action that is at least doable for most, and worth a try at least.
...What, are you busy with something else right now?
Physical attractiveness isn't limited to women, it can be found in men. However I do not know any men who act truly feminine/girly. That's why I value that in women more then anything else, because its completely unique to their gender. Of course for me to be attracted romantically to a woman she needs to have a certain level of attractiveness that I like. However I can find feminine/girly traits endearing even in ugly women.
The first issue I have with the gym advice is that its asking men to work harder, not smarter. The second issue I have with the advice is that it somehow insinuates men aren't doing enough to make themselves attractive to women, as if we have somehow taken a big step back. Women are twice as likely to be obese as men. So who really needs to hit the gym?
It says men need to up their game. Why? What have women done that has made them suddenly more valuable leaving men in a sprint to catch up?
So my advice to men would be to start working smarter, not harder. First, stop giving women free attention. Stop praising their instagram, twitter, and facebook photos. Stop sucking up to them in the friend zone. If she puts you in the friend zone and you only want a romantic relationship with her, cut her off. Stop praising her, stop doing things for her in the hopes one day she will start a relationship with you. She won't. I've had to do this. The moment I even get the inkling I'm in the friend zone I cut her off. But I know guys who will suck up to her for many months in the hopes she changes her mind or something. If she put you in the friend zone, she's not for you and not worth it.
And to keep the trend of men working smarter, not harder, get off dating sites. These are unbelievable skewed in favor of women. It's pointless for 95% of men to try and compete against hundreds of other men for one woman's attention. All this does is boost a woman's ego and deflate 95% of men's egos. If men abandoned dating sites tomorrow women would freak out and their expectations of what type of partner they can reasonably obtain will plummet to more reasonable levels. Get off dating sites and meet women in public.
Now, if men want to worker harder, work on your hobbies, work on learning new skills or on subjects that interest you. Become the best version of you, whatever that may be so its plainly visible to someone who may be interested. Yes, you should go to the gym or fix your diet if you are overweight. It's unreasonable to expect your partner to be in shape but not you yourself.
I feel like a totally untypical man, I am not a macho, and I don't want to become one.
I try to do some sports, but this is not so as to look more attractive, but more because it is healthier.
I think the people who write this kind of article have a complete lack of empathy, and think that what works for them should work for everyone.
It's the kind of failed logic such as "I wear glasses, I've never had a problem with finding a partner, so everyone should wear glasses".
The last thing I want is to pretend to be someone I am not, just to be attractive to a certain woman.
If a woman likes me, or even loves me, I want it to be for loving me, not for being in love with some kind of stereotypical male.
I agree and I can relate. I am an untypical man as well. Its hard when you dont fall into a stereotype because most people dislike what they cant understand, at least right away.