Celina Week 12: DON'T LOOK!
Here we go again! Oh that’s new, yay...I swear I had a jawline, like, two days ago…my hair looks so greasy..
And so runs the movie in my mind. INSECURITY. insecurity. INseCuriTy.
Isn’t it funny that regardless of how I capitalize it, the word still hits the same?
I heard a theory recently, that human beings were never meant to look at their faces. Before those handy little gadgets came about, we had the nearby river to look at our reflection, that was if it was close by. Then those tiny little reflective metals started going everywhere, but in their humble beginnings, they were reserved for the wealthy. Now with social media and the wonderful camera app, we look at our faces more than ever. But (surprise, surprise!), the way we perceive ourselves is not the way that others see us.
The jawline, the hair, they are all gone come the first impression. You can be drop dead gorgeous, but your personality is what makes people stay, the experience, the life, that you reflect. Though things like pretty privilege still exist, it’s important to remember that even that is 99.9999999999999999999999999999999999999999% of the time on a first chance encounter. And as much as we like to talk about the big kahuna, the beauty standard, it looks different every fifteen years. Hell, for each human it looks different.
Personally, I have made the mistake one too many times of believing that the world revolves around me. Not in the direct sense of making everything about me, but believing that the way that I see the world is the same way as everyone else. But science and a million other factors behind attraction, platonic or not, reveals that we are all pulled to different traits within each other. Maybe that is their smile, their top, their hair. But as soon as we get to talking, the idea of who we believe that person to be can only remain for so long.
Then you will know that if they stick around, it was never for your jawline (or lack thereof?), but because of who you are, or I suppose, who you portray to that person.
Hey Celina! After reading the title of your blog, I had to take a look, and I'm glad I did. Your theory about humans never being meant to look at our faces is so interesting. It is hard for me to imagine living in ye old days where people just weren't so fixated on their own looks. Without a mirror, your only concern about acne might be the pain, not what your crush thinks when they look at you. Modern life seems to necessitate knowing your own face: how else would you know what areas to target when applying makeup, and take the best selfies in order to put out the best image of yourself to the world? Now, the next time I stress out over my skin in the mirror, I will just pretend to live like a medieval peasant. Besides that, I love how your unique voice is evident in this blog, in humorous phrases such as "tiny little reflective metals" and "the big kahuna." Your line, "I swear I had a jawline like, two days ago," is way too relatable. Every blog I have read of yours so far has been captivating—even if I wasn't interested in the subject matter, your writing style genuinely makes for riveting reads. I'm excited to see how you tackle the topic of memory in the coming blogs!
ReplyDeleteHi Celina! Your final comment really made me think, "or I suppose, who you portray to that person." You entire blog was extremely captivating, but this final comment is what stuck with me the most. It's like you said your looks alone aren't what keep people around, it is who you are as a person; but the twist to this is how you present yourself. Say someone is a horrible person, as long as they present themselves in a kind, heartwarming way, people will stick around. Moving on from that though, I really like the theory you brought up in the beginning. The idea that humans were never meant to see their own faces can easily start hours-long conversations that can provoke deep philosophical questions with no single-true answer. If we can't see our face, if we naturally have no way of knowing what we look like without looking at our reflection, then what's the point in constantly worrying about our appearance? People may judge us for first impressions, judging our clothes, skin, face, but it really is how we present ourselves that keeps people close. I really enjoyed reading your blog and thinking about this topic more in depth, and can't wait to read your blog next week!
ReplyDeleteHello Celina! As soon as I saw the image I was immediately captivated. Why does the girl look so upset? Why are her hands behind her head? Your blog puts into perspective how silly our insecurities seem often. Most people are too worried about their own issues or insecurities to even notice our own. Your line about how “personality is what makes people stay” was especially relatable to me because when I think back to my first impressions of all of my closest friends, the first thing I noticed about them was an aspect of their looks. I had seen them from afar, so they were always “the girl with the glasses” or “the girl with the long hair” but as I got to know them, these definitions vanished and I began to think of them based on their personality traits and characteristics. As you mentioned, the beauty standard is constantly changing so in the long run, it seems pointless to try and mold ourselves to fit a standard that will continue to change throughout our lifetime. I enjoyed reading your blog and hope to read more of your work in the future!
ReplyDeleteHi Celina. It’s really interesting to think about how we weren’t supposed to look at our own faces, the same way we can’t play life in the 3rd-person perspective and are forced into the 1st person, it’s almost as if we were limited in how much we can see of ourselves. With that being said, what you said about our personalities being the most important quality has a lot of truth to it. What we look like is genetically determined, and constantly stressing about our appearance isn’t something healthy or good for you, as there’s no way for someone to change the way they look.
ReplyDeleteUltimately every single one of my friends are my friends because their personalities bring value to my life and make me happy hanging out with them. Never have I once looked at one of my friends who just got massacred at the barber shop and brought them down, because to me it doesn’t matter at all. The same way that our appearances shouldn’t matter to others either.
I really appreciate your language in the blog, which is very personalized and includes humor to lighten up a serious situation which many around the world are struggling with. Specifically I liked your “99.99999” and the various ways you wrote insecurity. It felt natural to read and it was enjoyable. Thank you so much for not only writing an amazing blog but also addressing an important topic!