I don't really know if I'm ugly but I'm 51 so I'm getting wrinkles, age spots on my face, a slight tire around my middle that I'm constantly battling, super thin hair that I have to keep short, a slightly crooked nose, yellowish teeth... I don't care that much though because I'm married and have kids and a good life. Sometimes I wonder if it impacts my career, but I try to dress nicely and focus on being competent and hard working. |
You are probably insulin-resistant. Metformin can fix that and you will lose weight. Get diagnosed. Treatment is $2/month for the pills. |
My hair always looks neat and I wear acceptable clothes at all times. I'm talking about acceptable hair vs professionally styled and a nice pantsuit vs a cuter skirt outfit Men do not face the same |
You're way too young to give up on all that. I'm 48 and use Retin A and sunscreen. Keep battling the tire! Bleach your teeth! |
I was overweight and was ugly. Lost weight and got into the normal weight range and went up to just under less than average attractive. Who knows maybe if I had it in me if I got down to underweight I would move up to average. Don't discount the overweight issue. Losing the weight will shift things around and help out some. |
I've seen plenty of "ugly" married people. To think that low self esteem doesn't impact how others see you is just putting yourself at a disadvantage. i wish there was a way to post a picture. I bet you are not as unattractive as you think. |
I posted earlier in this thread, but for some reason was thinking about it again.
I NEVER look good. Sometimes I look less bad than other times, and when I make an effort people can see that I made an effort, but I still never actually look good. When I look in the mirror to check myself before heading out, I do not look to see how good I look. I look to make sure I look appropriate, and that everything looks the way it should. That my bra strap is not showing, there isn't a random deodorant mark on my shirt, my fly is zipped, etc. Also, as further proof that I've been ugly for a long time, there are VERY few pictures of me. And I had solid self-confidence as a kid. But if you look at my brother's bar mitzvah pictures, I'm in like two of them, and my photogenic cousins are in 20 of them, and we were all dancing around together. People just naturally exclude me. For my looks. |
Reading this thread was like a razor blade to my heart. Ouch. I've always been ugly, and I've always known it. I was ignored all through middle and high school. People have said horrifically mean things to me. I can still feel the humiliation like it was yesterday.
I'm really envious of the PPs upthread who seem to have made peace with it. I'm just not there. I feel guilty that my children look like me. |
Beautifully put. The PP I quoted is right. To all the "ugly" women here, I am so sorry about the cruelty you have endured. I'm aghast that a group of boys would publicly vote on who is the "ugliest girl in school", or someone would tell you "You hit every branch." I know you've probably been too hurt to believe me when I say this, but I'll say it anyway: attraction is so subjective and impossible to calculate that it really is impossible to measure beauty. I can practically see you rolling your eyes with impatience over this - maybe you think I'm just another kind, well-meaning person who is telling you bs about self-esteem and "everyone is beautiful." But what I'm saying really is the truth. Not that "Everyone is beautiful", but "everyone is beautiful and ugly". You are going to be judged by people with wildly different ideas of what they find attractive. And this doesn't just apply to women who are in the middle of the conventional looks scale, even though people think they are the most likely ones to experience really diverse reactions. Men are attracted to things you wouldn't believe - hirsute women, really freckled women, super hair armpits, big noses, crooked teeth, small breasts, thick waists, round bellies, jiggly thighs, everything. Just go onto your local Craigslist one day and look at the "casual encounters" section. You'll be surprised at what men like when they think nobody is looking. Maybe you girls have had the misfortune to be surrounded by a very small and hive-minded group of men. Maybe you never learned to notice the signs that a man is attracted to you, because your negative self-image clouded your mind. Some of the purportedly "ugly" women in this thread are married and claim their husbands only saw "past" the exterior. Not at all! He saw the exterior and liked it. Men are visual creatures, like you admitted. If other men didn't like your exterior and refused to date you, why can't we say that your husbands asked you out because they liked the way you looked - and only afterwards discovered your equally pretty personalities? Furthermore, if your husbands liked you, I find it hard to believe they are the only men who ever liked you. Like in this world of 7 billion people, you found the one single soul who was attracted to you. The fact is that you can't know what passed through the minds of all the men you've ever met. There is a chance that others were attracted to you, but for a whole host of reasons that had nothing to do with you - their own insecurities, wondering if you were taken, never finding the right moment - didn't ask you out. Hugs to all of you. Nobody deserves to go through life feeling rejected or thinking themselves ugly. |
But projecting self-confidence isn't just a choice like getting a new haircut. It's a personality trait. If you are normal-looking, then you can be shy, acerbic, outgoing, ditzy, pesimistic or assertive and plenty of people will take time to get to know you and appreciate who you are. If you are unattractive, you have to have natural charisma to overcome your appearance. People will not overlook an introverted personality or a snarky comment from an ugly girl, because we are obviously not worth getting to know. We get exactly 1 strike against us. |
True, but if you fit the conventional definition of "pretty" and yet are either introverted or have a bitchy attitude, then you won't attract quality people into your life. You'll just attract assholes who are prepared to deal with your bad attitude/introverted-ness/low self-esteem for as long as it takes to get what they want from you - be it sex or something else. They aren't going to respect you more, or genuinely like you, just because you are "pretty". And if they do, it would probably be because they have serious self-esteem issues of their own. |
Janice Ian wrote the all-time best song about ugly women:
"I learned the truth at 17 that love was meant for beauty queens and high school girls with clear skin smiles who married young and then retired." I bet a lot of women on DCUM fit this description. |
Sure, my perception of myself isn't objective. But it's not just been comments from a few people; it's been comments from many people, from childhood through adulthood. My husband barely said hello when we were first introduced by mutual friends. He spent all night talking to another woman, and I still tease him about that. ![]() ![]() I understand your point though, and agree with the perspective that there's a difference between being a physically unattractive person and an ugly human being. I am the former; I am not the latter. |
Do you mean Janis Ian? Segue into the Secret of Jewish Parenting thread. ![]() |
+ 1 I so agree with this advice. You are only 27 - that is so young! Do not give up on your dreams to date and/or get married and have children. Do whatever it takes to lose the weight and get in shape and make yourself more confident and attractive. I have several friends who did not lose the weight until their mid-40's and by then, they were so mad at themselves and they feel like life has passed them by. These were women who were not dating much and were sorrowful about not having a family, but they waited too long to lose the weight and join match.com, etc. |