At A Glance
Author	xlivexandxletxdiex
Contact	[email protected]
When	N/A

On Christmas day, something was brought to my attention that was really disheartening to me. Everyone had opened their gifts; my mother, aunt, and grandmother were all in the kitchen preparing Christmas dinner; and the rest of the family was sitting around catching up. I was watching Pirates of the Caribbean--just trying to stay out of the way--when my uncle walked by me, quickly glanced at me, flashed a half-smile, then did a double take and said "aww you look really pretty," then quickly caught himself before I could even reply with a simple 'thank you' and said, "I'm sorry, do you want to--I mean are you trying to be pretty?"

At the time, I just laughed it off and went about my day, but as the day went on I continued to think about this. He honestly thought that I was deliberately trying to make myself ugly. Could someone be so ignorant to think that I'm actually trying to make myself ugly? I'm not heavily modified, but I suppose it is a bit much for some people. I have the bridge of my nose, dimples, labret, and tongue pierced; and my ears are currently gauged to a 00--but nothing too intense. When I got pierced it was not because I thought I was ugly and I needed to poke holes in myself to complete the "ugly" look; it was because I thought it accented whatever body part I was having pierced nicely. It was not to take away from my physical appearance--it was to add to it. Most people would not say that just because you have your ears pierced that you have low self-esteem and are trying to make yourself ugly, you simply thought it looked nice. For some impossible-for-me-to-understand rea son, it is hard for people to look at other piercing in that same accepting light. It's called "modification," not "deformation."

I don't expect everyone to understand my reasoning behind getting modified, but I would hope that people could look at it with a bit more positive outlook and common sense. My common sense tells me that someone would not purposely try and make themselves ugly--of course I could be wrong, and I am sure there are a few exceptions, but I think it is a generally safe assumption that people would like to look decent. People would like to look in the mirror and be okay with what they see.

A few days after New Years, I was sitting on my sister's bed talking to her when she said, "Yeah, the other day mom got frustrated and said 'I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. I look at my beautiful daughter and I see all this shit in her face. I just wish she would take it out!' She was pretty mad." Once again, I was really shocked, how could someone be so ignorant. First and foremost--when I did have really low self-esteem because I was 'fat' she did not tell me I was beautiful and that I should accept who I am and be proud of myself no matter my size or shape; she encouraged me to go on a self-starvation diet and exercise an absolutely ridiculous amount. She will encourage me to do something that really is damaging to not only my body, but my self-esteem as well and then discourage me from doing something that in general has made me a better person. (I'm not saying that everyone who gets pierced is an insta-saint, I'm just saying that it's made me look at how much peo ple are judged based on nothing other than physical appearance, me realizing this has made me a better person because I now stop and think about it before I pass shallow judgments or make harsh assumptions about other people based only on appearance.) Well, she certainly did not seem to think I was beautiful when she was practically helping me stick a finger down my throat. How could she be so narrow minded? I'm happy with myself. I have my moments when I get down on myself about the way I look (keep in mind I am a teenager), but for the most part I believe I'm beautiful just the way I am. Piercing or no piercing--I think I'm beautiful.

Piercing is a fashion--like all fashions, some like it, some don't. Some people may think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread, others may think it's the most absurd thing they have ever witnessed. Neither is right, and neither is wrong. All I'm trying to say is that it really is all a matter of opinion, but people don't see it the same way as they see low-rise jeans or mini-skirts, and people act as if it's completely ludicrous to think that it should be viewed in that way; but, no matter how you view it, it IS a fashion.