Comments on iamjustin's Journal

I hate beauty standards. They make me so fucking mad. I think that everyone should look the way that they want to look, and that they should be able to do this without being afraid of being made fun of or called disgusting. Sadly, this is not the case. I cannot speak for the rest of the world, but I know that in America, marketing literally brainwashes it's viewers, especially young women, into feeling the need to buy their products in order to look a certain way. Rarely do people realize what is going on. They think that psychical beauty is based on a single, set mold, and anyone who does not fit the mold must be weird, creepy, ugly, and unhygienic. This is getting ridiculous. There are many types of people in this world, so why does it not make sense that there should be many different ideas on what it means to be beautiful? Now, please do not get it into your head that I'm saying that we ought to rebel against the ''set'' definition of beauty, because I am not. What I'm trying to say is this: Figure out what you - you, not the media, not society, not your best friend - think a beautiful man or woman looks like. Then become it! Or, if you think that beauty is not worth the cost if it takes any effort to create it, don't become it. Just be you! Personally, I do like it when men and women alike have very slim, thin, figures. But I would much rather see a fat person who thinks that fatness is attractive than a skinny model who stays fit only to please her boyfriend and her boss... not herself. There are so many things that we might think of as ugly that other people find to be completely beautiful. Here are some examples of what I define beauty as, that I do not believe that the rest of this country would agree with:

1. I absolutely hate it when women shave their vaginas. It looks gross, and it's creepy too! Why on earth would you want to make love to a woman who has the same hairless body of a ten year old unless you are a pedophile? Besides, I think that the hair looks nice. Same goes for women who shave their arms! There is nothing sexier to me than the hair on a woman's arm. And no, it is not just because it makes them look more like a man. Just because I am gay does not mean that I can't appreciate the beauty of a woman.

2. Tanning. Seriously? I hate it when people tan! It makes your skin look unnatural and unhealthy and wrinkly and orange! I'll take pale skin any day, either that or a nice healthy glow that comes from a person who likes to spend their time outdoors in the sun.

3. Perfectly straight, white teeth. I hate it when people bleach their teeth! They look creepily white, and when they are too straight they look square and big and ugly! I am actually attracted to people with crooked teeth. I think it looks cool. I don't even care if they are yellowed as long as they are not bleached!

4. ''Perfect'' facial features, meaning a ''normal'' sized straight nose, eyes that are not too far apart or too close together, and a normal sized mouth with plump lips. Fuck that! One of my biggest turn on's are guy's who have eyes that are too wide set. ''Perfect'' faces turn me off because they are boring looking!

Another thing to be taken into consideration is acceptance. If you are dating somebody who does not want to do X on account of it takes too much time, it is unhealthy, it is expensive, or it conflicts with their definition of beauty, then I believe that you ought to be accepting of this, even if you do not find it to be attractive. Now, I know that there is a line to be drawn there, - I could never see myself dating someone who was obese, or even overweight, even if they thought that they were beautiful - but try to be as open minded as possible. I know that this is a hard thing to do, but the way that I see it is this: Within certain limitations, it is much more important to me for my partner to be happy with the way that they look, and most importantly to look the way that they want to look, not the way that I want them to look. Don't try to change anyone! Some things that people - especially women - do in order to live up to other people's idea's of attractiveness, as I said above, take time, money, and are sometimes unhealthy. Please stop this craziness!