Facing the Ugly

“In a world filled with butterflies, it takes balls to be a caterpillar” Luna Vachon (RIP)

Here in 2011, our society is bombarded with sex, sex, sex and, oh yes, SEX. The pressure to look absolutely gorgeous is higher than ever, where people go to extreme lengths to achieve what their own minds deem to be ‘perfection’. Television; films; the entertainment industry is full of beautiful people. However, how do the regular people in every day life fare?

In an episode of 8 Simple Rules, Kerry decided to make a video diary, if you will, in the life of her more attractive sister, Bridget. During this particular episode, Kerry records several instances in which Bridget uses her looks in order to get what she wants. The diary details a nerdy boy completing multiple homework assignments for her, with her giving the boy another digit to her phone number for each pieve of homework he did for her. In another scene, Bridget was stopped by a police officer in her car for some reason or other, and was able to get off free of charge after telling a ridiculous story which made little sense, basically implying that the male officer let her off because he wanted to bang her. Although these occurrences are obviously exaggerated, I believe it raised a very valid point. Does how attractive you are influence the way people treat you?

I shall put myself forward as the primary example of this blog. Unfortunately, I am no Bridget. In fact, it’s fair to say that I’m about as far away from her as you could possibly get. You see, I am what people would call ugly; minging; buzzing; hanging; a munter; nice mask….oh; put a bag over it and there‘s a chance someone will be drunk enough to shag you; is it a bird? Is it a plane? Oh wait, it’s your fucking ugly face.

I am what this world would call, a caterpillar. Of course, this is a metaphor; I have no intention of shedding my skin or jizzing on plants (or whatever that foul gunky stuff is that caterpillar’s leave on leaves). I am, what polite people would call, unfortunate looking or simply, unattractive.

As a child, I don’t think you really think about these things. At least I didn’t. It wasn’t until I hit the big 16 that I received my first ugly insult. Since then, they have been fairly regular, ranging from the sarcastic, “wow, you are LUSH”, to the ever popular, “you’re fucking hanging”. These were mostly from random people whom I passed on the street or in school who felt the need to say them. When they first started, of course they bothered me. I’ve always been able to hold my own in a classic game of trading insults, but that particular insult would always floor me. How could I defend myself? It was true.

I would be lying to say that it doesn’t affect your confidence. I remember the slogan for some shit product on television was “Look Good, Feel Good”. Well, this might explain my rather bleak look on life. Friendship wise, although it rarely comes up directly, it can easily be sussed. For example, when all of your friends tell each other how nice they think each other look, the general awful pictures that your friends tag of you, and perhaps not so subtle “Your mums quite pretty, so is your father really ugly or something?” How nice. Sometimes it does crop up in the back of your mind: would you have more friends if you were more attractive? The conclusion I always come to is no. You might have far more acquaintances, know a lot more people and have 43985734958 friends on Facebook, but the number of true friends that you would have would be exactly the same. If people are only friends with you for how you look then they are seriously, not worth it.

Judging people by their appearance is not a sin. Who doesn’t do it? Stating whether you find someone attractive or not is an everyday occurrence. However, in some cases, it’s just down right nasty. When, let’s say, a rather unfortunate looking girl is with a rather fortunate looking boy, do you honestly think it’s alright for you to say “Oh he’s way too good for her. He can do loads better”. Or reverse the roles, an attractive girl with an unattractive boy and the girl’s own friend says:

Bitch : “ Why the hell is she with him? She so pretty.”
Me: “ I bet he’s really nice. Have you met him?”
Bitch: “No I don’t want to he’s fucking hanging”.

In my eyes, you’re fucking hanging love. There will come a time when you get with a super-attractive person and you’ll hear their friends telling them that you’re too ugly for them. How would you feel then?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a bitter ugly person. I am now 20 years old and have grown up a lot since my teenage years. As a matter of fact, I couldn’t give a shit if I repulse people. I, myself have learned to live with it. I’m not going to set myself up for disappointment in trying to pull at a club and never pulling, I simply don’t even try ‘cause I know it’s not going to happen. When you forget about how you look, you’ll have such a better time whether you’re out on the piss, or just going through life. There is a lot more to a person than how they look. I myself look like a cross between Rafiki from Lion King, and a pumpkin on Halloween. So, should I stay in the house and cry about how ugly I am? No. There are people far worse off than I am, whether they have been in an awful accident or suffering from a harrowing disease of some kind.

To conclude, being a caterpillar in a butterfly’s world may be difficult at first, but in the end it doesn’t really matter. As long as you’ve got friends and a family who genuinely care about you, then that’s all that really matters. Life goes on even after your looks have faded.