How do you know if you're pretty?

[Jaime R D]

I have no clue. If I were pretty, maybe I would know, but...


sigh


*crawls back under my rock*

[stephaniec]

well, I don't know, if I were an aardvark seeing myself in a mirror for the first time would I consider myself pretty

[antonia]

You know you are pretty when you feel pretty and the only way to look pretty is to feel pretty, so build up your confidence, shoulders back, arched back and smile.

Every time someone says you are pretty take the complement, if someone opens the door for you, holds the elevator or just beams you a smile take if for the complement it is and smile back.

[Jenna Marie]

I wish I knew... I've never felt pretty.

But Melanie, having seen your selfies thread - you're not merely pretty, you're gorgeous.

Juliett : Wow, now I feel bad. I never post to those threads b/c I won't ever post pics (long story, involving privacy paranoia), but every time I see your pictures or your avatar I literally think "I wish I looked half as pretty as you do." You look like you have a body type similar to mine, but your face is about 100X prettier.

[StevieAK]

Pretty is as pretty does..to judge on the depth of skin is the culture and the sad state of humanity.
The women ive respected here are the ones with real profile pics who transitioned knowing that the world would never accept them but were true to themselves..pure beauty.

[GenTechJ]

I think that everyone is pretty to someone.

Looks are subjective to the one doing the looking.

Everyone holds there own perspective of what pretty is.

I find your avatar pretty but some might have another opinion.

Build your transition on confidence of who you are.

That will show to the world more then the shape of your eye brows, etc.

I have to say this is the most spot on answer. Beauty is subjective. What one person finds beautiful someone else will find ugly and vice versa. I personally prefer women on the curvy side, but have also dated women who were skinnier than I personally like due to personality and it made them absolutely beautiful to me. I dated one woman for a while that no one wanted to go near because she shaved her head on a regular basis, but she was hilarious, intelligent, and just all around beautiful without being my "preferred" type.

TL;DR version: Beauty is subjective, if you can find beauty in yourself rather than hating yourself, others will find beauty in you. Just remember, your type is not the same as someone else's type. Be yourself, be honest, and don't ever doubt your own beauty.

[Lady_Oracle]

I know this is gonna sound terrible probably but I just go by what's considered to be ideal by many as to what being beautiful is in today's society. If you have full lips, a small nose, proportionate breasts, wide hips, skinny waist, big eyes, full cheeks and so on then you're more than likely to be perceived as "beautiful" Every era and culture in human history has had different definitions as to what beauty is, so that's another issue to consider. Of course there are exceptions to what I listed above.

[TaoRaven]

I take terrible pictures, but I think I am pretty IRL. I do get male attention, and I have cis-gender female friends who compliment me frequently.

Good enough for me.

And...I know that I am progressing, and looking better every day.

/shrug

Maybe some people don't think I'm "pretty", but enough do...and I do.

[GenTechJ]

I know this is gonna sound terrible probably but I just go by what's considered to be ideal by many as to what being beautiful is in today's society. If you have full lips, a small nose, proportionate breasts, wide hips, skinny waist, big eyes, full cheeks and so on then you're more than likely to be perceived as "beautiful" Every era and culture in human history has had different definitions as to what beauty is, so that's another issue to consider. Of course there are exceptions to what I listed above.

Meanwhile you use Callisto as an avatar.

[Lady_Oracle]

Huh, I googled that and still don't get it lol 

[Jen72]

First of I cant say I am pretty still ugly male self lol.  But I have known an old greek that told me some of those old cliché stories.  One was about the most pretty on the outside woman and the other was ugly on the outside yet the winner for the most beautiful was the ugly one (inner beauty is far more important).  Big reason ones considered pretty tend to be gods gift to men and sometimes a real beotch.  Of course this is not always true.  So to all of you that feel you are not pretty try really hard either to not think about it or focus on the good in life like your inner beauty:)  I hope I can one day be prettier on the outside but long road to see if this ever happens. Yet I have to keep the mental side boost since my self esteem is probably on the low side.  Like the quote from the song I have listed below For every day that stings better days it brings:)

And my bad manners a lot of you girls look fabulous!:)

[Carrie Liz]

The very definition of 'beautiful' is "pleasing the senses or mind aesthetically."

In other words, there basically is no way for an individual to know, because whether they are beautiful or not is completely dependent on whether other people find you visually appealing or not.

You kinda just have to take people's word for it when they compliment you. And likewise, if people don't compliment you, you have to realize that this is just the subjective opinion of others, and it doesn't mean that you're not beautiful, because odds are that there is indeed someone who does find you beautiful. And guess what? Even the most beautiful celebrities still have a bunch of haters constantly telling them that they're ugly. So that's really what it comes down to, is learning to take compliments when people tell you that you're pretty, and let the haters roll off of you because it's just their subjective opinion. (And again, being beautiful completely depends on whether others find you appealing, so beauty in and of itself completely depends on the personality of the person looking at you. There's a lot of people that you shouldn't care whether they think you're pretty or not because they have a distorted narrow view of what being beautiful is in the first place.)

Me personally, I'm of the school of thought that being female in and of itself makes you beautiful. There's so many of you who post about how they don't feel beautiful, and I just want to jump through the computer and give you a big hug and tell you that you are beautiful.

(Plus, as was mentioned, if you find yourself appealing in your own eyes, you can call yourself beautiful, because again, being beautiful just means pleasing to the senses or mind aesthetically. So if you find yourself pretty, you can call yourself pretty with no shame, because you fit the definition.)

[GenTechJ]

Huh, I googled that and still don't get it lol 

A character in Xena: Warrior Princess. Xena being my role model, and Gabrielle being the woman I want. I'm weird. That being said Callisto was a great character and also good looking.

[Northern Jane]

I had a poor self-image when I transitioned and the two things that bolstered my confidence most were overhearing what people said when they thought I couldn't hear and the attention I got from guys.

[melanie maritz]

Well here's another question, how do I know if I'm pretty on the inside? I don't feel pretty on the inside either.

This woman from my support group just told me today that she saw me yesterday when I was standing at the bus stop and that she thought I'm possibly the most beautiful person she has ever met.

I just said thank you to her and smiled, it made me feel a bit better but I still wonder if she just said it. She said she wouldn't just say so.

I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but it does seem like one type of beauty is appealing to more beholders than another.

Like one girl said, the idea of what beauty is changes the whole time and has done so from long ago. So I would just like to kind of fit into our generation's idea of what outside beauty is

[Jess42]

Well here's another question, how do I know if I'm pretty on the inside? I don't feel pretty on the inside either.

How many responses have you gotten to your question? Do you cuss people out if they make a mistake like they overcharge you for something or are you nice about it? Generally just how nice of a person are you? That will give you the answer of pretty on the inside.

[galaxy]

I think your are pretty when people say it to you. I mean - they TALK to you and look in your eyes and your face. The virtual world can be deceitful - selfies can be deceitful. Its only a picture and you've to get a look at the real person.

For that case/rule i'm not pretty because nobody ever said it to me personally and i believe to myself too that i'm not pretty. For real prettiness i'm to old and startet HRT to late. Thats the bitter truth and yes, it hurts a lot.

Galaxy

[melanie maritz]

I'm always nice to people but that doesn't mean I don't think mean things sometimes

[Carrie Liz]

This woman from my support group just told me today that she saw me yesterday when I was standing at the bus stop and that she thought I'm possibly the most beautiful person she has ever met.

I just said thank you to her and smiled, it made me feel a bit better but I still wonder if she just said it. She said she wouldn't just say so.

Wow. No kidding. When someone says that, trust me, they mean it. People who are just paying you lip service would be way more reserved and basic than that. And any time that ANYONE compliments you without being prompted, when you're not even looking for compliments but they give you one anyway, you can be sure that they mean it.

Seriously, take the damned compliment. The rest of us can only wish we could hear something like that.

[Hikari]

Well here's another question, how do I know if I'm pretty on the inside? I don't feel pretty on the inside either.

To be totally honest, I am not really sure what feeling pretty on the inside would or wouldn't feel like. I have always taken it to be an awkward way of saying if someone is a good person or not. For that I would just assume that if your character stands to the moral ideals you have then you are.

While I doubt my outward attractiveness there isn't a doubt in my mind that I am a good person, and an interesting person. Which does feel a bit reassuring to me.