From the day we are born, we are constantly told how we should look and act. We're told what we need to wear and how we need to wear it and what “consequences” will come out of wearing the wrong things. But once you reach a certain age, you can decide for yourself what you look like.
What clothes do YOU want to wear?
Do you want to get something pierced? A tattoo? A change in your regular hairstyle?
It seems like once you get to the point where you can do what makes you comfortable with your appearance, people feel the need to comment the most.
If you decide you want to wear a lot of makeup, people will say to you “you're so naturally pretty, you don't need all that makeup” or “why do you have to wear all that makeup?” If you decide you don't want to wear makeup, you hear statements like, “you'd look a lot prettier if you put a little makeup on” or “it doesn't hurt to put a little effort into your appearance.”
If you get piercings, they'll tell you you're ruining your beautiful face or that it makes you look too aggressive. Some jobs won't even hire you depending on the piercings you have. Others will tell you that you look ridiculous. Believe it or not, some will even try to take the piercing out themselves.
If you get tattoos, you're setting yourself up for comments about their permanence and how they're going to be there forever. It's as if they don't realize that you knew that when you went to get the tattoo in the first place. Why else would you have a person with a needle digging into your skin, for sometimes multiple hours on end, if you didn't want it to be there forever? Many jobs won't hire you if your tattoos are visible when wearing a uniform.
I often ask myself when I ever ask for anyone's approval or opinion on how I look. Why does anyone care how I look? Doesn't it only matter if I'm happy with how I look?
The problem we face in today's society is that so many people-- both men and women-- are constantly struggling to fit a certain image that, in reality, almost nobody can obtain. Be skinny but not too skinny. Be strong but don't lose all sensitivity. Be naturally beautiful but don't be fully natural. There's never a time where society tells you to do whatever you want with your body, as long as it makes you happy. Some people are happy with their bodies when they're skinny. Some are happy with their bodies when they're thick. Some people are happy with natural, makeup-free faces. Others are happy beating their faces with some beautiful highlight and some perfectly winged eyeliner.
The way we look shouldn't matter to anyone but ourselves. The comments people make towards the way we look should never be made or taken seriously. I'd rather be told that I'm intelligent than beautiful. Physical stature should never matter to another person other than ourselves because we are the ones living in those bodies. We are the ones who control how we look because we are the ones living that way until the day we die. Nobody should ever make comments about the way you look as long as you are healthy and happy. Your health and well being are far more important than trying to reach a goal from a magazine where that person doesn't even exist.
The way you look shouldn't matter to anyone but you.
No matter what beauty standards tell us, we're all beautiful.
