How beautiful do you think you are?

[Riva]

Lolz...
I always always when looking myself in the mirror find myself very very attractive. But when I look at pictures of myself I'm never ever satisfied. :-(

So I guess when I look myself in the mirror I see only the good features I have. But when I look at a snap shots I see the whole picture and can't prevent myself from seeing the not so attractive parts .

 

[Qlip]

Admittedly, I did not read this whole thread so I am not sure which direction it is going. "Attractiveness" in American culture is a very intriguing subject to me. I think it's one of the biggest money-making shams out there. The more I study in my classes about Intercultural communication the more convinced of this I become. However, that being said every culture has it's own brand and way of idealizing one specific form of beauty over another in it's society. It was very interesting to see what "fashion" looks like in subcultures in America such as conservative religious communities. What I have discovered though is that Americans, in particular, hold a standard of beauty/handsomeness that is unattainable by a vast majority of men or women. This desire to reach this standard, although most know they will never attain it, will cause people to spend their money. Marketing in America to see how this is done is also fascinating. I know that I have always been greatly affected. We know as women, at least on an intuitive level, that this influence is out there and it's constant barrage can affect you even when you have a strong desire to resist.

The interest in this subject became even stronger as I listened to my ISTP husband talk to my 12 year old ENFP daughter. I heard all of the subtle cues of this often subconscious influence of what is good or bad for American women. I know on a personal level how quickly self-esteem can be lost and once it is lost it difficult if not impossible to regain. This could be due simply to the fact that I am also an NF but the urge to protect her from these types of feelings overtook me. Anyway, to make a long story short (er) I found an excellent documentary America the Beautiful (2007) that shows how powerful this is on the American psyche. Should you be interested it's certainly worth watching! It opened up a very important conversation in my house at least.

This reminds me. In the past, in our household, we didn't really comment at all on physical beauty and my ex-wife really isn't into that pretty girl thing. We're separated now and my daughters spend a lot more time with more mainstream cousins and insensitive grandfather who will semi-jokingly tell any woman/girl at the dinner table that if they get seconds they'll get fat.

So last weekend, I was awed on how awesome my kids were and complimented each one... usually I tell my 10 year old daughter that she's smart. This time I told her she was pretty. And she is. Both my daughters are gorgeous, of course. But, she looked at me like I had offered her a dead mouse.

 

[entropie]

Above Average and SJ is an antithesis to an SJ isnt it ?

 

[JoSunshine]

I recoiled when I saw this poll.

Not sure whats up with the intensely averse reaction...so needless to say, I didn't vote.

Carry on

 

[Jonny]

I'm an NT, and from what I've seen, I'm pretty average when it comes to physical attractiveness. In terms of overall attractiveness, I'm probably above average to some, but below average to the rest, making me below average overall.

 

[entropie]

That was confusing

 

[Such Irony]

That was confusing

I think he means that some people would perceive him as above average but a larger number people would perceive him as below average. So if you average out all their assessments, overall he would be rated below average.

 

[Ming]

Sigh, I know I would be better looking without acne. Acne is evil. =.=

 

[Phantonym]

I consider myself below average in every aspect of physical attractiveness, and no, this isn't just my low self-esteem talking. It's a fact, taking into consideration what the "acceptable" aesthetic standards of present day are. I do wish it wouldn't bother me this much, but what else is there to do when there's nothing missing, nothing extra out of the ordinary, but things still don't add up right. I guess that's life, can't have it all.

 

[entropie]

I think he means that some people would perceive him as above average but a larger number people would perceive him as below average. So if you average out all their assessments, overall he would be rated below average.

Thanks but that didnt really help

Sigh, I know I would be better looking without acne. Acne is evil. =.=

Yea second that. Had acne from 11 - 18 and it was a lonely time

 

[Such Irony]

I consider myself below average in every aspect of physical attractiveness, and no, this isn't just my low self-esteem talking. It's a fact, taking into consideration what the "acceptable" aesthetic standards of present day are. I do wish it wouldn't bother me this much, but what else is there to do when there's nothing missing, nothing extra out of the ordinary, but things still don't add up right. I guess that's life, can't have it all.

I kind of relate to this. I know I'd be more attractive if I'd wear makeup, if I did more to my hair than just wash and brush it, and if I upgraded some of the items in my wardrobe. Yet do I want to spend all that effort? I do like being low maintenance but there is a cost to appearance. So I think I have the potential to be attractive enough to attract a mate and be considered attractive by most people, but no matter what I do, I doubt I'd ever be drop dead gorgeous. I'll never have the desired skinny figure without starving myself sick. It's just not in my genes. There are certain facial features that I have that fall short of model standards and I'm not about to go and get plastic surgery.

I guess in the past few months, I have become slightly more concerned about my appearance. I'm not getting any younger and I'm considering makeup to hide some small wrinkles that are starting to form (the horrors!) And I'm sick of my hairstyle, I want to do something different but I have no idea what. Right now its wavy and slightly below my shoulders, but there's no particular style or look to it.

I do you think you're selling yourself short. True, that not everyone is cut out to have the looks of a supermodel but there are plenty of different attractive looks out there. With some work, I think almost everyone has the potential to be considered generally attractive.

 

[funkadelik]

As a hormonally charged youth I think most people are attractive, honestly, and I think that I'm definitely attractive as well.

So I guess, by that, I'm simply average.


(p.s. this post and poll were incredibly difficult to deliberate on! :workout

 

[Nicodemus]

I would do me.