I have come to a personal decision,
a conclusion if you will, that may or may not be important to anyone besides
myself, but here goes- Looks matter.
Everyone tells you they don’t,
especially girls. We struggle so much
with our looks as it is, you see, with the world screaming at us to fulfill
some wildly impossible ideal with a driven obsession that is neither healthy
nor desirable. And I’m certainly not condoning
that kind of obsessed, self- or world-driven ideal. Because looks certainly aren’t everything. But they do matter- at least to me.
Maybe it’s because I’m more
superficial than most people; or maybe most people are lying to themselves, as
well as everyone around them (and I’m sure there are some people who truly believe
the ‘looks don’t matter’ mantra); but I find it is pretty much impossible for
me to disregard someone’s physical appearance- my own included.
Maybe it’s the artist in me, but I like
to look at pretty things. Things that
are just pleasing to look at, just for the sake of looking; faces and forms
that have elements that practically beg
to be immortalized in paint or pencil, simply because they look good. No more, no less. Just sheer physical appearance.
Looks also tell you something about
a person- not just the way they dress, or how they cut their hair, or how much
makeup they wear, or whether or not they happen to be clean-shaven or not; all
of which tells you quite a bit about their personality and habits. But beyond that superficial nonsense, a
person’s appearance often shapes how they see themselves, as well as how the
world sees them.
It’s an integral part of who you
are- the way you look. We all have
mirrors- there’s likely not a single home without one. One of the mile-markers of infant development
is when a child learns to recognize their own reflection. How we look is a vital part of our own
self-identity- and so is how we think about how we look.
This is often –sometimes sadly,
sometimes not- shaped by how others see us.
But it’s also in the quiet moments when we’re alone with the mirror; in
the every-day hustle and bustle when we see something in someone else that
reminds us distinctly of ourselves- for good or ill. How we see ourselves shapes the way we stand,
dress, act, and especially interact with other people.
So- do looks matter? Most definitely. Are you welcome to disagree with that? Of course!
But before you do, take a good look in the mirror, and ask yourself- do your looks matter? Either how you see yourself, or how someone
else sees you- how important is that, and why?
