The idea of a society where claiming you like the way you look is judged as both strange and an invitation for disagreement is, to me, very sad.
If you’re a person who exists on the Internet at the moment, I’m sure you’re no stranger to the term "body positivity." It’s a faaairly recent movement, encouraging followers to adopt a more kind and forgiving attitude to their flesh vehicles and the society-fueled perceived “flaws” upon them.
The idea is to rearrange your thinking to work in a more optimistic (or “positive”) way about your appearance (or “body”). Obviously, I’m paraphrasing, but I think it’s generally and unarguably a Good Thing.
My thoughts are: why stop at the neck? The most exposed (both literally, and in a figurative/people-commenting-on-it sense) part of any body is usually the face. And what a minefield being a woman and having a face is.
Firstly, there’s the innate problem of either being “pretty” or “not.” The problem with this idea is that it suggests there are are only two types of faces. A simple glance around will tell you that’s not true. And there’s not one face that you would call pretty above all others, I’m sure. There are loads of attractive (“positive-faced”) people, and they don’t all look the same.
Let this idea appeal to your insubordinate nature: the world wants me to not like my face, so guess what? I’ve decided I like it. Take that, world!
In fact, I’d go so far as to say they don’t even all look similar. Some have small eyes, some big eyes. The same could be said for noses, mouths, ears, foreheads, chins, and I’m sure I could go on. So if all of these people are pretty, then it surely stands to reason that you (yes, you) are too, right?
What I am getting at here is that you might as well just think that you’re pretty. For one thing, it’ll make your life much better, and for another, no one can objectively prove you wrong. Ha!
Sometimes, though, I admit, it’s not as easy as all that. In a world where you are constantly encouraged to view your appearance as a list of solvable “problems,” where thinking you’re attractive is somehow seen as odd or problematic, face positivity is in itself a rebellious act.
Related: More Fat Face Representation Please
Let this idea appeal to your insubordinate nature: the world wants me to not like my face, so guess what? I’ve decided I like it. Take that, world!
The idea of a society where claiming you like the way you look is judged as both strange and an invitation for disagreement is, to me, very sad. And one person genuinely claiming they feel fine about how they look won’t exactly change the world. But you know what could?
Loads of people genuinely claiming this. So, this is your call to arms. Or should that be, call to faces? (;-))
And, finally, before anyone pipes up, this isn’t me covertly saying that being pretty is the most important thing to be. I think even very unreasonable people would agree that it’s not.
What is deeply important, however, is thinking that you’re pretty. Because when you do, you are. It’s basically magic.
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