Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Good evening guys, dolls, unicorns.

How important is beauty to you?

I'm talking physical beauty only. And your own. How important are your looks to you?
This may seem rather shallow a topic, but everyone assesses their own beauty quotient at one point or another.
How much does it matter to you?

A great deal....
im at college, its one of those environments. If your female, theres a massive image perssure, do i like it? well i could live without it, but i dont mind it, its just life... look good, attract a mate.... or attract the attention of boys which any girl will admit makes her feel good....
my apearance is a BIG thing for me and my self confidence.... beauty? i strive for it...
R >:D

Very. I've wanted to be a pretty girl my whole life. But I'll settle for being just a passable girl.

I am retired and pass. Health is much more important. Looks are only skin deep. I would think that being young, one needs to attract a partner. But remember after 10 years together looks rank at the bottom of the list compared to other human attributes.

Quote from: Ashley Michelle on March 22, 2008, 04:46:02 PM
YOU are not going to have to settle, dear heart.   ;)

:P

Posted on: 22 March 2008, 15:52:49

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Quote from: lisagurl on March 22, 2008, 04:49:27 PM
But remember after 10 years together looks rank at the bottom of the list compared to other human attributes.

Vanity is a cruel mistress. ;)

I guess I'd rather have beauty than ugly, if that's the question. 

I would love to be beautiful :)

...but if I could have anything I wanted I'd choose self acceptance. And to me that means
being happy with what I've been given. And I think I'm getting very close to that the last
few weeks :) :) :)

When I first started to transition, I told a good friend of mine that I didn't care what I looked like. I didn't care if I was the ugliest girl in town and that I would be a girl, female and woman. I'm here now and I don't look all that bad, but I'm far from pretty, but I don't care, I'm female. I got what I want, what I have dreamed about all my life. Beauty? What is that? Who are you trying to compare with? It doesn't matter to me. I try to look the best I can, with what I have. That is all I care about.
Sheila

I am ashamed to admit that my looks matter a lot to me. I am pushing 70 and very happy that I look good. In my younger years I didn't think I had great looks but as I have aged and the looks held up I have reconsidered my opinion.

Beauty is important to me. Or, at least, the pursuit of beauty.
Not that it should be more important than self acceptance, but for me it represents how much I respect myself.
Do I respect myself enough to exercise, eat right, moisturize ever day, etc.

We are all blessed with different attributes, and I would say that I'm not exactly a super model, but trying to look your best is important.

Quote from: Nero on March 22, 2008, 03:23:43 PM
How important is beauty to you?

I'd rather be considered "cute" or "pretty" moreso than "beautiful," strangely enough. I'm guessing it's because in MY head, I see myself as a young girl still growing up. I'm *hopeful* for it, but I'll take what's given me ;)

~Kate~

I'd prefer to be charismatic than beautiful.
I have to put up with cute.

I always wanted to be pretty.  It did matter a lot.  I was quite vain.

Now, I don't care so much.  I've got other things to worry about. 

There is more to beauty than good looks ya know.

Cindi

I have the reverse feelings of Kate. "Cute" or "pretty" would be nice; "beauty" I deeply desire.

But there are more ways to be beautiful than are seen in the pages of fashion magazines. I've known beautiful people of all ages, ethnicities, genders, shapes, and sizes. So much of beauty is, to me, much more than skin deep; our outward presentation expresses what we hold inside.

I knew a girl who was quite unattractive, and became rather beautiful by sheer will; not the will to be beautiful, but the will to live. She'd had a terrible childhood, and the ugliness of her past translated to her physical appearance. Over the time I knew her, she didn't lose weight or start using makeup or whatever, but she became more confident and true to herself, learning to care for herself, and letting that show in how she dressed, how she walked, how she spoke, the brightness in her eyes. She will never be a terribly pretty woman, but she is beautiful.

i think it only matters when you constantly think about it and compare yourself to others. does beauty matter? of course. i'd be lying if i said it didn't matter at least a little bit. yet, it doesn't determine everything.

I know there are limitations but I try and look as natural as I can. The analogy of Beauty is stretching it a bit and reminds me of catwalk models......I'm just trying to look as attractive as any other fit 40 year old housewife......

you go love!

natural attractiveness > plastic attractiveness.....


a lot of transwomen who get fffs and other chopjobs end up looking like they belong in beverly hills....
R >:D

It has been and I guess it will always be. I have always tried to look my best. I think a lot of beauty is in your heart as well. If you feel good about yourself it will glow from the inside to your outward appearances.

Deb

Quote from: Rachael on March 23, 2008, 08:18:35 AM
you go love!

natural attractiveness > plastic attractiveness.....


a lot of transwomen who get fffs and other chopjobs end up looking like they belong in beverly hills....
R >:D

You missed the point completely and I don't think it's fair for you to criticise transsexuals who might need FFS....

......and I certainly don't think natural attractiveness is related to face lifts in Beverley hills...

you missed mine too :P
R >:D

I do runways shows once or twice a year, get to hang with the models out smoking, most of them are not plastic, they are really pretty, in jeans and tshirts.  And its as much in their poise as in their bones.  No one who is really pretty is not aware of it.  Same with ugly.

It is very important to take care of your self.  Not everyone is born with natural beauty but if you make the effort to take care of yourself physicaly, emotionaly, and with good hygeine you are then Beautiful.  There are some that have natural good looks but live like slobs.  There are thoose that aren't naturaly great looking but they exercise, have a good outlook on things and dress nice.  I think you take what you have been given and try your best to improve on it and you are then Beautiful  no matter what.

I think I'm beautiful, as do plenty of others.

And if I wasn't, there's no way in hell I'd want to transition.

:-)

It's not simply the joy of being a woman, it's the joy of being a CELEBRATED woman, a beautiful one, that surpasses most GG's even.  Beauty defines femininity more than anything else I figure.

I think I'm pretty. I don't think I'm amazingly beautiful.  How important is it (to me)? As important as the urge to survive.

Quote from: lady amarant on March 22, 2008, 04:44:24 PM
Very. I've wanted to be a pretty girl my whole life. But I'll settle for being just a passable girl.

Ditto.

Beauty is very important to me. For myself, when I do get FFS, it will make a 180 degree differance with me. I have the basic feminine structure, just a few rounding of sharp points, and ironically straightning of round features, is what I need. Passing and looking OK is not good enough for me. I say why do a half ass job? I know some might argue this but it's my face that needs to go under the knife.

My looks are very important to me, my job demands it but now it seems I'm looking more for personality.  Getting old I guess.

Job demands it?  WOT WOT?

Quote from: tekla on March 22, 2008, 05:26:09 PM
I guess I'd rather have beauty than ugly, if that's the question. 

:laugh:
Yes, if I had a  preference, that would be mine.
-Sara

Nero, I don't think this is a shallow topic at all.  Looks are very important as this essentially captures the eye of the beholder. For me, based on the physical attributes, it is something or anything that reveals symmetry and unity of structure.

Try look at the supermodels as an example. Aren't there bone structures and figures perfectly made? Their body curves are perfectly shaped to capture everyone's eyes. Beauty calls for a great appreciation for it; IOW it is a form of art that all humans look upon.  Is beauty important to me?  Of course! I'd be lying if I said that it isn't.

tink :icon_chick:

Pretty important (it makes me happy), but wishing for more of it doesn't rule my life.

Very important. Its what my heart desires. It would change my life and allow that happiness I seek to find me and overwhelm me. I'd probably pass out from the emotion of it all.

I'm very happy that I'm a beautiful woman. I take good care of my looks.

Yes, Nero, beauty is important. How important? Depends on the beauty. Physical beauty I feel really must take a back-seat to emotional and spiritual beauty.

We've spent 4000+ years dealing with male-judged standards of beauty for women as a chain used to bind us. But, honestly, there was a beauty in Eleanor Roosevelt, Mother Teresa and Mirabai that also seems even more important than the contours of face and torso, legs and hips.

Do I appreciate, like most oif the posters above, that physical beauty is important to me. Why, of course. But, I also see traps there that can snare the person in a prison as tight as that into which many of us are born (GID.)

A tough balance to achieve. Yet, I'd like to think I am working on it.

I find that all three beauty-types I mentioned are incredibly important to many women w/ whom I interact. They are important to me as well and I try to manage all three. The best beauty seems to me to be the elusive combination of all three within a person.

Nichole

I don't care about being "beautiful", I look how I look and thats the way things are. I certainly don't believe in any type of "social pressure" to look beautiful and I feel sorry for those that feel that way. Just to clarify, I KNOW that pressure exists I just choose to ignore it. I don't believe that its a matter of whether you are male or female either. People who use the excuse of "well, I am a girl so I HAVE to be beautiful" are just conforming to the expectations of other people rather than thinking for themselves.

Although I agree that our physical appearance is very important to most of us, I would rather be thought of as beautiful on the inside as a person.

QuoteAlthough I agree that our physical appearance is very important to most of us, I would rather be thought of as beautiful on the inside as a person.

LOL...I'd like to try beautiful... just for a little while... please.... I promise... I would work on the inner part harder :)

:)

Amanda

Beauty is important, in that I have pride in myself as a woman. However, it is not my priority; living my life as a woman is. My self-confidence. Make-up, hair, clothing. The expression on my face, my walk, and how I move, are some of the elements of both beauty and the experience of being female. They all work together as a statement as to who I am.

Hmmkay, I'm seeing al ot of inner beauty nonsense.

I couldn't give two ->-bleeped-<-s about inner beauty in someone who I was considering sexually or romantically if that person wasn't beautiful on the outside.  I hold myself to the same standards.  Inner beauty is fine and good, but it's outer beauty that matters.  Anyone can be a nice person, that's up to that individual, and as bad as it sounds, beauty is to a large degere a genetic thing, although taking the time to exercise and eat right makes an enormous difference as well as getting up in the morning and practicing good hygiene.

Physical appearance is the deciding factor in one of the greatest drive among the human population and that's the instinct to procreate.  Beauty signifies fertility, health, and genetic purety like symmetry of facial and body features.  So yes, beauty MATTERS.

Quote from: Annwyn on April 04, 2008, 06:25:31 PMInner beauty is fine and good, but it's outer beauty that matters.

Wow Ms. Attitude have you ever got it backwards. ::)

Anyone can be a nice person

In reality, few decide to go that route, finding insteed an inward directed life of ego, self-absorbtion, and narcissisism to be more fullfilling.  Its a pretty shallow manner in which to make a decision - but like a friend of mine says, "If Dennis Kucinich looked like George Cloony he would be the front runner."  So, we get, not politics, but mere words and images - none of which is going to help us through what we are about to face.