I've never been the biggest girly girl around. I was into monster trucks and NASCAR when I was younger, and now that I've gotten older that's been fun hairstyles, tattoos, and piercings. Even though I am in a sorority, I've never fit that stereotype of the girly girl in pink and heels and everything. I've learned a lot of things over the years about being really nice but having people give me looks because of my appearance:
1. People judge you right off the bat for how you look
So, I have my septum pierced along with having three tattoos, one of which is on my forearm. I also had slits in one of my eyebrows. But also being from the Minnesota where we're called "Minnesota nice", I'm a generally sweet person. But whenever I go get coffee or I'm out with friends, some looks and interactions I first get, always have a standoff reaction. But as soon as I start talking, that drastically changes because they understand I'm not as scary as I look.
2. People act really surprised when they get to know you
Since most of my first reactions with people are very unwelcoming, when someone talks to you for long enough, they realize you are a pretty nice person. I always get some comment like "Wow, I wasn't expecting you to be so nice" or "Has anyone told you that you're pretty intimidating?" People are always taken off guard when they talk to you for long enough to know that you can smile.
3. Guys are going to be a little intimidated
Some guys are taken aback when they find a girl that knows herself and rocks it too. On top of everything else, I've also been lifting weights for six years, and that will only make some guys run for the hills. Some get a little scared when you can squat as much as they can and you look like you could scare people away with a stare. But the guys that don't make good lifting buddies.
4. You learn to take comments with a grain of salt
You learn very quickly that people will make comments anywhere from "Oh that look is interesting" to " Aren't you worried about all of that when finding a job?", and you just have to take all with a little grace. Everyone thinks differently about these kinds of things and you learn quickly that it really doesn't matter what you say because you're probably still going to just smile back at them.
Being really nice, but looking more on the edgy side is hard, but it's fun at the same time. No one is going to want to stop you on the street because no one will want to mess with you but you also know that you are who you are and you can rock it. You're not going to gain confidence, but you can wear it on your sleeve.
