I saw a man washing his car today. I thought, "Why is he washing only this one, and not the ones next to it?" If it was just about beauty, he'd be cleaning all of them. But this one was his. He was not just washing the car, but himself.
We like looking at ourselves when we're beautiful, and we like making ourselves look beautiful. What counts as ourselves? Not just our bodies, but the things on and around our bodies that we identify ourselves with.
We even do it with other people. The people we associate with, we want them to be beautiful too. They reflect on us. If they do something gross, it can make us feel gross too.
When it comes to our leaders, we make the ones we like look beautiful. Do you think it really matters that the president has a sharp jawline, broad shoulders, and abs? But people post pictures of him like that, because they identify him, and want to be beautiful by extension.