Do you like what you see when you look in the mirror?

[This Year's Girl]

I want it on my ankle (a Chinese letter), and I read somewhere that it's one of the more painful spots.

Will you come with me and hold my hand? I'm also have needle fear.
Seriously, when I need to get a shut or give blood sample, I start yelling before the needle even touches me. And they already know me by that. So once a new nurse came to take my blood (no, she wasn't a vampire!) and I paniced before she even stabbed (yes, stabbed!) me, so the other nurse, who already knew I always make a scene when I come to be stabbed, told her: "it's okay, she's always like that" (me). And I always almost faint every time, because of the fear. And yeah, it hurts me, it's not just the sight of a needle ready to stab me. So I knew a tattoo would be hell for me.

Aww, I'll hold your hand 🙂 I'm a little afraid of needles too, but I solved it by never looking at amy of the instruments. It sounds like you're more afraid than me, but if it helps, remember that it's not a needle that's going to be piercing your skin the same way a shut does. And the pain kind of makes the area go numb, so it only hurts for a little while. I think you could do it someday! 🙂 it would be a shame for fear to stop you 🙂

 

[frankie]

I don't like what i see at all but it's what was given to me so it'll have to do. The thing I like least is my weight. I'm constantly trying to put on weight but it doesn't happen, I guess I will remain skinny. The thing is I often get told how skinny I am in a tactless, rude fashion and it seems I have to let it slide. Damn double standards. When someone openly tells me in a rude way how I need to put on weight, how come I'm not allowed to say back just as rudely that they need to lose some?

 

[fly on the wall]

For the most part, yes. I mean, everyone has insecurities. But for the most part I'm happy with my body...my hair and face are a little more troublesome, heh, but I'm usually okay with them, too.

 

[Willow-Tree]

No... sometimes I'll find things about myself that I dislike, but I've never thought of myself as unattractive.

Me with one of my best friends haha (I will admit I look really weird in this picture, though... but it's the most recent)

http://i56.tinypic.com/2qi8rvb.jpg

 

[ashsummers]

I have really bad eczema that makes me depressed about how my body looks at times. It's alot better than it was but sometimes I still feel like a hideous monster.

I have a love-hate relationship with the mirror I guess. My weight is what I can't stand at the minute. I'm pretty skinny (like SMG season four I guess) and I hate it. I used to be more season 2 but lately since I've become a bit depressed I've lost some weight and it's taken me right back to being an insecure teenager who was constantly called anorexic (despite having the appetite of someone twice my size) which used to really upset me.

Being really skinny makes me look about fifteen when I'm actually 23. The other day a sales person mistook my fifteen year old brother for my boyfriend and referred to us as "young lovers" *gag!*

The only thing that makes me look my age is my boobs actually (more season 1 buffy) which I like incidentally, so I'll keep them.

I hate my nose too. I've been considering rhinoplasty for a while now but I'm scared I'll regret it, so I'm torn.

But honestly it varies.. At times I'm quite happy with my lot, other times not so much... But I think particuarly as a woman its hard to be happy with how you look all the time so I try not to let it get me down too much if I can help it.

 

[Tillow4ever]

It's odd, sometimes I'll look in the mirror and be like, haaaaaaay sexy, but other times it's the opposite.

I couldn't rep you, but bahahahahha! I think the same thing! 😀

 

[kristin1105]

I like this thread!

I'm a really skinny and short girl. I look like I'm 12 and I'm really 19. I get called anorexic a lot. Most people are saying it jokingly but it doesn't make it any less annoying. I'm only really self-conscious about my arms(cause they are really thin,) other than that I'm happy with myself.

As for the whole shaving thing, I hate it. I'd rather not do it but if I don't I know my friends will freak out on me. I'm lucky that I have really light colored hair so I can get away without shaving for a bit. I do like the way clean shaven skin feels after but its so hard to maintain. I also prefer that my partners don't shave in the vaginal area, mostly cause when its shaven there it reminds me of a naked mole rat. I'm not saying to have a jungle down there, it should just be trimmed.

 

[methos]

when its shaven there it reminds me of a naked mole rat.

That made me laugh so hard... thank you for cheering me up today 😀

M

 

[maryperk]

Eh, when I look in the mirror, I see my mom.

 

[maryperk]

If she was, she'd be a ghost. LOL. No, I look more and more like my mom the older I get.

 

[Washburne]

Do you like what you see when you look in the mirror? If not, what don't you like as opposed to what you do like?

Do I like what I see? Depends on how closely I look. 😉 There's been times in my life that I did everything I could to stay away from mirrors. Getting loads (well it felt like it anyway) of comments on how ugly you are certainly doesn't help. I've become more accepting on how I look though and that's definitely about time. I'd like to change most things. But besides weight my nose and smile would definitely be the first thing I'd change. Don't mind my nose from the front but from the side...


I'm definitely with Christopher when it comes to female and make-up. I won't deny that sometimes it can look awesome. But in general I prefer the natural look. It might go hand in hand with what I've seen in their personality (I haven't met every woman on earth so don't get to mad) but still what I prefer. Or as they say, the best kind of make-up is when no one thinks you're using it. 😉

How many of the blokes out there, of age obviously, take care of their bodies? I mean, trimming / shaving body hair and the such...

it seems to be a major thing that men expect women to neatly trim and shave body hair, but how many of the men around here actually do their own to keep their bodies looking nice for their significant other?

Well, I don't do it to look nice for anyone else but I do remove hair. But then again, hair or no hair wouldn't make the biggest difference when it comes to how attractive my body is. Get in shape and better skin would be way more important.

and hairy woman =yucky. Lmao, there's NO excuse ! ;p

Oh, come on. Hair are only considered gross (specially om women) because it has been constructed to be viewed that way. It wasn't considered gross before.

If you have a prefrence like IM and it goes both ways, like "i dont like hairy armpits, so I don't have them myself, could you consider doing it too?", then sure. But it's not something you can demand, only wish for. And the norms about looks should not be different for women as it often is today. Hairy legs on a women, hairy legs on a man - same stuff for me. I don't mind it either way. I do prefer none hairy pits in both cases though.

I know what I prefer but I would never ever make it a huge deal. If it's a hook up for a night maybe but since I don't do that's not a issue for me. It's up to them and not me. I'd go to great lengths show it too. If I love a person I love their body too. Even if as I said I have preferences.

The human race have survived for a very long time without shaving the body so I'm sure we could again. And if you think about what a shaved body represents you might not like it as much. Trying to look like the ones that naturally don't have much or any body hair at all isn't creepy at all is it?

 

[mayfever]

Or as they say, the best kind of make-up is when no one thinks you're using it. 😉

I agree oh-so-very much. I want to enhance my natural qualities, not look like I've been dunked in a paint bucket. On a normal day, I wear foundation and a little blusher so I don't look like death, and when I go out I put on mascara and a bit of eye shadow. I don't want to use a spatula to remove my make-up...

I know what I prefer but I would never ever make it a huge deal. If it's a hook up for a night maybe but since I don't do that's not a issue for me. It's up to them and not me. I'd go to great lengths show it too. If I love a person I love their body too. Even if as I said I have preferences.

I think that's kinda neat and I admire you for being able to look past it. In practice though, while I wouldn't mind a little stubble, I don't think I would be able to have sex with someone who doesn't even trim. I just find it really, really repulsive.

 

[fly on the wall]

Just wanted to comment on the skinniness discussion that happened a long time ago, heh..

My whole life I've always been really tiny and I got pretty harassed about it. When you're thin like that, people perceive you as being weak, young, and unfeminine. It got worse when I hit puberty...girls can be cruel. I got a lot of eating disordered jokes thrown my way and honestly had a LOT of body issues over the years. When I was younger, I tried desperately to gain weight. I mean, I'd pretty much eat myself sick and I did manage to gain about 10 pounds...but as soon as I stopped eating 3x what I would normally eat, I lost it all. This is how I am naturally, but it took a long time to accept that.

It IS socially acceptable to condemn thin people. Half the trashy magazines these days feature people who are "too thin"...and since I work in retail, I hear all the comments. People love to criticize skinny people. They eat it up (no pun intended). And it's widely considered "okay" to do.

Real women have curves. Skinny isn't sexy. Most men prefer women with curves and some meat on them. These are the messages we're pummeled with. And I know, obese people get crap too, totally...but it's not socially acceptable to openly put down fat people. It definitely happens, don't get me wrong...but let me give an example to better explain myself. A semi-friend once said to me while we were in a large group, "See, you're too skinny to by my type." If I had said, "You're too fat to be my type," it would NOT have been okay, but not a single person batted an eye at that comment. Because it's "good" to be smaller. Because I should feel lucky? I don't know, but for years stuff like that wrought hell on my self-esteem, to the point that what I saw in the mirror was TOTALLY warped from reality. I literally thought I looked like a famine victim, which is not the case, but yeah. I never actually felt "sexy" until I got into my first serious relationship a year ago. Now, I've pretty much come to terms with my body, but negative comments still bug me. 🙂

 

[kristin1105]

Just wanted to comment on the skinniness discussion that happened a long time ago, heh..

My whole life I've always been really tiny and I got pretty harassed about it. When you're thin like that, people perceive you as being weak, young, and unfeminine. It got worse when I hit puberty...girls can be cruel. I got a lot of eating disordered jokes thrown my way and honestly had a LOT of body issues over the years. When I was younger, I tried desperately to gain weight. I mean, I'd pretty much eat myself sick and I did manage to gain about 10 pounds...but as soon as I stopped eating 3x what I would normally eat, I lost it all. This is how I am naturally, but it took a long time to accept that.

It IS socially acceptable to condemn thin people. Half the trashy magazines these days feature people who are "too thin"...and since I work in retail, I hear all the comments. People love to criticize skinny people. They eat it up (no pun intended). And it's widely considered "okay" to do.

Real women have curves. Skinny isn't sexy. Most men prefer women with curves and some meat on them. These are the messages we're pummeled with. And I know, obese people get crap too, totally...but it's not socially acceptable to openly put down fat people. It definitely happens, don't get me wrong...but let me give an example to better explain myself. A semi-friend once said to me while we were in a large group, "See, you're too skinny to by my type." If I had said, "You're too fat to be my type," it would NOT have been okay, but not a single person batted an eye at that comment. Because it's "good" to be smaller. Because I should feel lucky? I don't know, but for years stuff like that wrought hell on my self-esteem, to the point that what I saw in the mirror was TOTALLY warped from reality. I literally thought I looked like a famine victim, which is not the case, but yeah. I never actually felt "sexy" until I got into my first serious relationship a year ago. Now, I've pretty much come to terms with my body, but negative comments still bug me. 🙂

I agree with everything you said here. I also began to think of myself as some sort of anorexic girl. I even googled possible disorders I may have had because I was not "normal" according to my friends and family. Society kinda sucks

 

[Tome]

I usually do. Obviously if I was able to, I'd change a few things(GREEN EYES PLEAAAASE!) like most people would. But whenever I don't like something about myself, I try to change it. If there is no way to change something that I dislike, then I just tell myself I'm lucky that I only have to worry about something superficial, while some people go through hell everyday.

 

[brinkster130]

It IS socially acceptable to condemn thin people. Half the trashy magazines these days feature people who are "too thin"...and since I work in retail, I hear all the comments. People love to criticize skinny people. They eat it up (no pun intended). And it's widely considered "okay" to do.

I agree, people love to criticize skinny people. I think some of that stems from jealousy.

Real women have curves. Skinny isn't sexy. Most men prefer women with curves and some meat on them. These are the messages we're pummeled with.

I think this is societies way of "encouraging" healthy body weights and shunning eating disorders such as anorexia and bulima; but I do think they are overcompensating and creating unfair standards. Its like they don't even realize that comments like 'real women have curves' are insulting and can be hurtful to some women.

 

[fly on the wall]

I think this is societies way of "encouraging" healthy body weights and shunning eating disorders such as anorexia and bulima; but I do think they are overcompensating and creating unfair standards. Its like they don't even realize that comments like 'real women have curves' are insulting and can be hurtful to some women.

I agree. I wish we could encourage healthy body weights and positive self images without condemning low body weights and thin women. It's really counterproductive to say, "Be healthy! Love yourself! Just don't be too thin, that's gross."

It's especially nuts because I developed a disorder of sorts just by these messages that are, at their core, trying to discourage disorders. Like I said, I ate myself sick. But even though that didn't last very long, I still had an extremely warped perception of myself. And whenever I prepared food for myself, for YEARS, I would subconsciously try to add in more calories. Real butter instead of margarine, real mayonaise instead of miracle whip, extra cheese, cream in my coffee instead of milk...I seriously didn't even realize I was doing this until a couple years ago.

"Real women have curves" makes me so mad. Real women do have curves. But they also don't. Having a certain body type one way or another shouldn't determine how "real" of a woman you are. Hell, I've met real women who were biologically men.

I'm sure that some of the criticism stems from jealousy, but it doesn't feel that way when you're on the receiving end of it. I honestly feel that some people look at me and are repulsed, even though I'm at a healthy weight for me. That's a crap feeling. And then when people say things like, "You're too skinny for my type," thin people are supposed to smile and not be offended because being skinny is "preferred." Or something. Although clearly not. It doesn't make any sense!