People Answer If They Consider Themselves Pretty (Spoiler: They’re All Gorgeous)
Beauty comes in all shapes, colors, sizes, and forms. While we're told this constantly, we're also bombarded with photos on media, idle gossip from friends, and criticisms from parents who say otherwise. It can be hard to feel beautiful every day, and we all know this.
People on Quora sounded off to the question "Do you consider yourself pretty?" and shared some really incredible and honest answers. Personally, I think all of these people are perfects 10s, both inside and out. Plus, how freaking brave are you to answer this question on the internet?
Sastia Was Always Compared To Her Sister
It's hard being a sibling, regardless of whether you're the youngest, in the middle, or the oldest. We all know what it's like to constantly be compared to our siblings. Sastia says, "everyone in my family considered me as 'the less attractive one' compared to my younger sister."
All it took was a compliment from her grandmother who she hadn't seen in a while to change her perspective. Sastia says, "she looked me in the eyes and said, 'I never imagined that you could look this pretty.' I cried. I guess right now, I do consider myself pretty."
"I Thought You Had To Be White To Be Considered Good-Looking."
Zipho Tefu shares that while he's now confident, he had a hard time seeing his beauty when growing up in a predominantly white neighborhood. He says, "As with many black kids in my area, I thought you had to be white to be considered good-looking."
After wrestling with his identity for years and relaxing his hair to look "more white," Zipho finally began to embrace himself in 2018. "I became more confident in my own skin. And it showed...I am who I am. And that's all that matters."
"People Suggested My Mom Make Me Get Plastic Surgery"
Phoebe is confident in her own skin, but she shares the difficult journey it took to get there. When she was growing up, she shares that she "was told several times that I was ugly. People suggested my mom make me get plastic surgery so that I would 'look less ugly.'"
But she never let those people bring her down. Pheobe says, "Nothing about me fits the Vietnamese ideology of beauty. They think it's weird that I don't wear makeup. But I feel pretty and we don't have to fit the beauty standards to feel pretty." Right on, Pheobe!
Pretty Is Only A "Sometimes" Feeling For Jane Erick
Not every person feels 100% all of the time—it's part of being human. But we should, because we're all beautiful and different in our own ways. Jane often struggles with feeling pretty in her own skin and says that "once in a blue moon, when the light catches my face just so, and all the planets have aligned—yes, I do think I am."
A lot of that doubt often stems from other people and childhood experiences. Jane vividly remembers a horrible moment when she was 12, where kids listed all the things wrong with her looks. So let's all just be a little kinder to each other.
"If I Didn't Get Told That I’m Pretty, I Probably Wouldn’t See Much Beauty In Myself"
You never know someone's confidence level when you meet them in life. Some people naturally seem more confident than they actually are, and they may rely more on compliments to feel good than we know. Hollie's no stranger to that feeling.
"I do think I'm pretty! The reason I can say with confidence that I am pretty is because I get told that I am pretty A LOT. I think if it wasn't for being told that I’m pretty, I probably wouldn’t see much beauty in myself. I'd MUCH rather get nice, honest compliments from other women than get yelled at from a car window," Holly says.
Middle School Was Tough On Charissa
Charissa loves her appearance now, but it wasn't always that way. Middle school was tough for her when "some boys from my neighborhood decided to follow me down the school halls calling me fat and continuing the abuse in my neighborhood every time I went home."
Charissa says that her perception of herself began to change after people began to treat her differently and compliment her in high school. She says, "One day, I looked in the mirror and I realized, 'I guess I am pretty.' I've never looked back since." Charissa's story just shows what a difference a few words can make.
"I'm 22 And If I Don't Feel Pretty By Now, Maybe I Never Will?"
It all comes down to how you were raised to view yourself. You could be Marilyn Monroe and someone could say one thing to you when you're a kid that completely wrecks your self-esteem for life.
Esther says she was raised by someone who would constantly pick on her looks, and it ruined her perception of herself. She says, "The moral of the story is that if you have kids, be careful how you speak to them. When I told my parent how much of what they said I still remembered, they were shocked. They told me it was just jokes but I carry it around regardless."
It All Changed When Kararína Moved From Slovakia To Japan
Beauty really is a cultural construction, and that's incredibly obvious from Katarína's story. She said she never really felt like she fit in with the Slovakian beauty standards and didn't feel "pretty." But that all changed when she moved to Japan.
"Until I came to Japan, I felt kinda ugly. I got random compliments from strangers and got asked if I was a model. I learned that I fit Japanese beauty standards." The take-home message, Ktarína says, is that "I just decided to live with the mindset that I had when I was in Japan—that I am pretty. I am trying to stop caring and simply trying to love myself."
Hair Was A Security Blanket For Teodora
We all have what we consider our "signature feature," and if that changes, it can feel like we look unrecognizable. Theodora says that she was always showered with compliments, but one day she cut off her signature long hair.
"Boys stopped talking to me, no one would come to me and ask for my number, and all people would say is, 'I prefer your long hair, this hair doesn’t suit you.'" But Teodora says she eventually "stopped caring if people like me or my hair. I know I am beautiful. I don't need approval from other people."
Someone Give Sunny A Microphone
It's not easy to love yourself despite things in your appearance that your culture dictates you should notice, but Sunny is winning on that account. She says that she believes she's pretty and then goes on to list all little things she thinks are imperfections.
"Despite all those imperfections, I do still consider myself pretty. You know, the more I learn to love my whole body with all its imperfections, the more I feel PRETTY and more important, the more I feel HAPPY," Sunny says. Don't you just want to clap right now?
It's All About The Picture For Laura
We've all seen unflattering photos of ourselves and let those get into our heads way more than is healthy. Laura is just like all of us, where we get down on ourselves because of one photo that's probably badly lit or taken at a weird angle.
"In the past, I've had really bad self-esteem issues. It took me a long time to reach the point where I'm actually mostly accepting of myself. In the first picture, I look okay, in the second picture, I think I really do look beautiful. For me, it just all depends, but for the most part, I think I am pretty." Laura, you're gorgeous no matter what.
"I Don't Have That Look Factor"
Nathan, like many of us, thinks that his looks are what stops him from living his life the way he wants to. He says, "I'm not the sort of guy who girls would crush on, or who would have random people giving me their number; I just don’t have that look factor."
Nathan and anyone out there reading—don't let how you think you look to others dictate your behavior. Nothing is more attractive than a confident person who's living the life they want, so go out there and live your best one.
A Little Meditation And Self-Reflection Really Put It In Perspective For Septhiria
Septhiria says she feels most beautiful when she understands the cycles her body is going through. She says that, "for the past 23 years, I've always berated myself for not being 'pretty enough' or near the beauty standard established by society. But at 24, I attended a feminine meditation circle which became a pivotal moment in my journey of body-acceptance and self-love."
That class taught Septhiria about how period and hormonal cycles might change her confidence. "I still feel insecure a lot of times, but understanding where the feeling of not being good enough came from has helped to put things into perspective for me," Septhiria says.
Miranda Had Her Own Battles With Body Dysmorphia
If you're body dysmorphic, you can't help what your brain chooses to focus on as a "problem," and it's difficult to change how you see yourself. For Miranda, that all began with her forehead, which she thought was too big.
She says she always "wore bangs" to cover her forehead and never let anyone see her without them. But when she stopped wearing them, she felt "more confident. With confidence, I felt more beautiful, freer, more me."
Andrea Bravely Got Help When She Needed It Most
Even though now she feels beautiful, Andrea shares that it took some dark years for her to get there. After years of struggling alone and not feeling great about herself or her situation, Andrea decided to seek professional help and see a psychiatrist.
She says that choice changed her outlook: "From that day on I began to leave negative things behind. I left that stage of my life behind and although sometimes I feel ups and downs, I feel that I am not alone because I have myself and I can say yes, today I feel beautiful."
"My Acne Taught Me Something Important"
Rachel had always considered herself pretty and still does, but she's got no illusions about the cultural drifts that make her think this way. Having acne as a teen, she says, really opened up her eyes about beauty standards.
"For five years or more, I had to deal with painful lumps on my face while most of my classmates had effortlessly flawless skin," she says. However, she says this experience forced her to look deeper for beauty in herself and inspired her to focus on her personality. And to summarize she says, "Yes, I think I'm attractive, and I enjoy being so. But it isn't my identity, and I hope that it never will be."
"I Know That I Love With Every Bit Of Me, And Treat Others How I Would Want To Be Treated"
Confidence in her own skin, for Kayla, didn't come until she'd started college, gained some independence, and became a mother. Even though she says she still struggles to feel pretty some days, she knows she's beautiful inside and out.
Kayla says, "I know that I love with every bit of me, and treat others how I would want to be treated. I will be there to wipe your tears. To care for you. To make you home-made cupcakes for your birthday. I'm that person. My beauty radiates from within."
"I Would Always Rather Be Voted The Smartest Than The Prettiest"
The flipside to being called beautiful is knowing that there are plenty of other amazing things to be in life. Alexa Reed knows this, and even though she doesn't consider herself beautiful today, she knows that that's a perspective that can change with a photo, a new hobby, or a new focus in life.
Alexa says, "I wouldn't want a guy to care about how I look, so why should I care about how he looks? I don't find myself pretty, but I do see other good qualities in myself that compensate for that. And I would always rather be voted the smartest instead of the prettiest."
Prashasti Knows That Her Insecurities Don't Define Her
Prashasti is confident in her own beautiful skin now, but she thinks she would've had a different answer to the question a couple of years ago. She says, "Had I been writing down this answer a few years back, I'm not sure whether I had been this confident to actually accept it with all my heart."
Prashasti says that that confidence isn't made overnight: "I have gone through numerous dark times. I’ve grown to be what I am today. There are times when the insecurities kick in within me, but then I ensure to get back to being 'me' back again."
Sharra Was Always Made To Feel Bad About Her Curly Hair
Growing up in the Phillippines was hard for the curly haired Sharra, who says that her "brown skin and curly hair is not considered beautiful by Philippine's standard of 'pretty.'" Because of this, she was often bullied growing up and would frequently tie her hair back to hide it.
A professor in university convinced her to let her hair down saying, "Being beautiful comes from within, but first, you must know how to love yourself," and those words stuck with Sharra who now considers herself beautiful.
