My wife assures me that I am by the way but I can state with candor that I've never thought I was good looking. I know I'm not Quasimodo but good looking....? I rarely look in the mirror, even when I shave, I usually walk around (electric). I don't look because what am I really going to do? I got what I got. My hair is buzz cut so there is never a "hair" issue, I'm well past acne so what's left? Spinach on my teeth? So basically, I'm a dude and as long as there isn't a booger hanging from nose, I'm good to go.
But in girl mode, I am very conscious of my appearance. Part of it is that I want to make the best presentation possible so that when I am out, I'll not traumatize the normals. A related component is that I am amazed at the change that I can make. Clearly, women don't think this way. Women augment with makeup, cross dressers change. So I look at every small nuance of my face as I apply my makeup. When I'm done, I step back and self appraise. And I'm appraising a different face in the mirror, not the "me" that I am in guy mode. I can look at that image and think that's an attractive woman. So how nutty is that?! Pretty nutty in my book but I do it.
So the question is, as a guy, do I really not care or is it that my options are so limited, there's no point? Is this is just self-indulgence I justify as "what women do?" At the end of the day, maybe it's just socialization. I really don't know. I certainly don't think about being "good looking" when in guy mode, but I do want to be "good looking" in girl mode. That's kind of weird. Why do I care? Is this your normal as well?
UPDATE: 1250 ish views and 40+ replies tells me this struck a chord somewhere. Here's the general summary: Cross dressers overwhelmingly report putting little to no effort into their male side. Wow. Only three women commented thus far but a general consensus exists: "Men, put in some effort, your wife will appreciate it!" kind of sums it up. Guys, we have to try harder.