Self Image Thread: IS UGLY BEAUTIFUL?

[Ugly Is Beautiful]

You've been on the Internet, without a doubt. If you've been on here you've seen the nihilism, darkness, and overall depressing stuff, but one of the most prevalent things I see here is self image issues. Why do we always hate ourselves? How we look, how we dress, speak, things we can't even control we hate and wish we could.

The Internet is really, really fake. You've heard it a million times that people only put what they want you to see on places like Instagram, and while absolutes are almost always wrong, this one is generally correct, and that causes a lot of self esteem issues. Which social media and eating disorders have a link.

It's similar to a painting in my opinion, if you're the artist, you see all the imperfections and mistakes. A critic may see it as well as they're deliberately looking for that, but your average Joe Shmoe wouldn't see that, they'd see a normal person.

Even then, there are levels to perceived "ugly". Despite the name, not all ugly is beautiful. But I don't think ugly is ugly, I think there's a base where you can only climb. That's just my take on it. This comes from someone who's been on both sides of the coin, ugly and beautiful.

what does NS think, and why is the Internet full of self hatred? (sorry if this comes off as bloggy I didn't know how to frame it)

9/20/26: self image thread: why tf do we hate ourselves?

[Azurnailia]

Because people (myself included) are scum of the earth and do not belong here. Because in the end, hate is the only constant in life. Not love, not change, hate.

[Ugly Is Beautiful]

Because people (myself included) are scum of the earth and do not belong here. Because in the end, hate is the only constant in life. Not love, not change, hate.

How? What's the reasoning behind the thought process? There are undoubtedly worse people, both in conditions and morally.

[Serdtgyu]

I mean in essence we as humans naturally strive for perfection. This often leads us to shun any imperfections as “bad” or “ugly”. But end of the day we’re all imperfect in a human sense. I however, (disregard this next part of ur not religious or actively dislike religion) believe that we’re all perfect because we’re made in God’s image. So much of humanity is about tearing each other down, but end of the day it’s all of our jobs to uplift others around us.

[Ugly Is Beautiful]

Adding onto the image aspect is a social hierarchy. Do I think having them is necessarily bad? No. But in almost all situations they end up being bad due having people being "bottom of the barrel", outcasts, weirdos, geeks, things of that nature, and that alienation and potential for bullying is something that can really affect a persons mental state, which side note is a major aspect for many school shooters, being isolated, bullied, alongside having little to no support to help them.

If I recall right from what I've read, some do it partially for the glory, but fact check me on that one.

[The Great-German Empire]

Self-hate is an unfortunate byproduct of the drive to self-improve. While the internet with its fake role models plays a part in the prevalence of self-esteem issues, I think another factor is the fact that actual live pressure to improve is weak (owing to various notions of self-acceptance, increased social atomization, etc) - meaning you can stay unsatsisfactory by your own standards and still not have incentive enough to break out of it. I know for a fact most things I dislike about myself still exist only because I am left alone about them.

[Kuromistan]

I have a love/hate relationship with myself

Sometimes I hate how I look, how I feel, how I act, how I react, what I say, what I do, what I think... but at the end of the day, it's night there's no one else I'd rather be

[DutchFormosa]

I've been bullied and picked on my whole life by some of my family members because of my weight, which has led to me becoming extremely self-conscious about my body. Although I eventually went and lost a lot of my weight by eating less, the bullying never stopped, and only kept up because they would now pick on me for being skinny or having my hair longer (which I started to prefer having as well)

The bullying thankfully came to an end for the most part, but it still left me with various mental issues that I still have today. I'll never be good enough to them or myself. I'll always feel like a failure in some way or the other, regardless of my environment

[Novele Anjou]

Ugliness is not beauty. Beauty is one of the transcendentals and ugliness is the absence of it.

[Pennsilfaani]

Ugliness is not beauty. Beauty is one of the transcendentals and ugliness is the absence of it.

Can you justify the existence of transcendentals?

[Horyun]

Maybe, this is the Shallow Hal syndrome.

[Da Yin]

Visually and physically unattractive people, according to society’s standards, are unattractive and ugly. Individually, there are exceptions, of course. People may like one who is considered physically ugly, and people may dislike one who is considered physically beautiful. That’s the fact.

In the past, being well-rounded was considered a sign of wealth and therefore desireable. Nowadays, it is a sign of unhealthiness and therefore undesirable. What was beautiful once, became ugly. It was all a trend, reflecting the material wants of society at that point in time. It is no different today, with all due respect.

As for me, I find conventionally beautiful people attractive and conventionally ugly people unattractive, following society’s standards. My standards are driven by carnal desire, and while I may like or dislike a person’s personality, it is true that I will find what is beautiful beautiful and what is ugly ugly.

[Novele Anjou]

Ugliness is not beauty. Beauty is one of the transcendentals and ugliness is the absence of it.

Can you justify the existence of transcendentals?

Yes.
Will I, for you?
No.

[PUTAT]

In the past, being well-rounded was considered a sign of wealth and therefore desireable. Nowadays, it is a sign of unhealthiness and therefore undesirable. What was beautiful once, became ugly. It was all a trend, reflecting the material wants of society at that point in time. It is no different today, with all due respect.

Culture tends to change as time passed by and what is considered as the norm in one culture could be considered as unusual or even a taboo in another culture.

[Fjolmidlum]

In thinking rationally of ugliness, we come to disregard beauty.

[Yorsa II]

People who hate themselves are easier to control

[Chirhoaea]

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.

Ugly is beautiful.
______________
On a less edgy note, there are things that are genuinely disgusting. I hate specific parts of myself and so does everyone else, just in different ways and to varying extents.

[Schwessen-Hellfohen]

Stripped of a human perspective, there is no such thing as beauty and ugliness. What we, humans perceive as beauty and ugliness comes mainly from two factors: first, as we are animals, our evolutionary “goal” is to reproduce and make the most fertile and apt to survive descendants. As such, individuals who are in good shape, have no malformations or abnormalities have naturally our preference. The second factor is cultural ; we have been taught, often unconsciously, criterias for beauty, in films, pop culture and all other medias. Thus, what may be considered beautiful can differ from culture to culture. This is less observable now with the globalization, but can be still found with more isolated communities.

Now as for why people now are especially obsessed about their appearance, I would say that this is because of our society being more materialistic and centered about looks. I’m not familiar with the specific dynamics, but this is something I think we can all observe. A mechanism I believe is correct is that people strive for meaning in their lives, and that an idealized, often exaggerated physique might fill up that need for meaning. People who want to feel included are also more inclined to care about their appearance in terms of societal norms.

[Page]

A realistic self-assessment

Good
- Irises of outer green and inner russet
- I tan very well for a white guy, just about type 3 skin
- Big hands impress and intimidate
- Brown hair that almost goes dirty blond in the summer
- A properly shaped beard squares out my jaw
- Well-endowed
- Strong calves

Bad
- Oddly small mouth and a lacking chin
- Big forehead exacerbated by prominent widow's peak
- Hair is rather thin these days
- My torso seems too small in relation to the length and breadth of my legs

1 - 10 assessment: 5 if I don't try, 7.5 if I really try

Goals
- Lose another 10 pounds
- Continue the restoration of my foreskin
- Stretch my lobes to 14mm or so
- Maintain at least a semblance of a tan in the dead of winter
- Forearm sleeve tattoos

[Ugly Is Beautiful]

People who hate themselves are easier to control

But that can't be the whole picture, can it? I don't think self hatred is only by people pulling strings and messing with your emotions, it seems to be natural rather than fully synthesized and utilized by evils.

[Atrioma]

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.

Ugly is beautiful.
______________
On a less edgy note, there are things that are genuinely disgusting. I hate specific parts of myself and so does everyone else, just in different ways and to varying extents.

is that a 1984 reference?

[Threlizdun]

Aesthetics and beauty are individually and socially constructed categories, not something with an objective existence to be found in nature. Beauty standards vary from culture to culture and across history. As others have noted in this thread, higher body fat in many historic and some modern cultures was an indication that someone was well-fed and had the economic security or social prestige to not face food insecurity. This changed with the rise in availability of industrially-produced high calorie and high fat food, which instead made healthy eating a luxury for many, given the time and money investments necessary for home-cooked meals with fresh and nutritious ingredients or the time to exercise and access to gyms.

The most widespread and institutionalized modern beauty standards privilege Eurocentric ideals of white skin and stereotypically European facial features, while also adopting an appreciation for a select few features from different populations. For example, current standards in America often have women expected to have full lips (but not too full), large (but not too large) yet uncharacteristically firm breasts (though also shaming plastic surgery often necessary to achieve the combination of these two features), to be effortlessly thinned yet also clearly toned, to have a large (but not too large) but bubbly butt that is firm and without sag (again ignoring what gravity naturally does to heavier body parts), and usually with straightened, wavy, or curly hair (preference varies over time) but generally rejects kinky hair natural to black hair. Almost no one naturally has these combination of features and the selection of them is entirely arbitrary and has changed tremendously over time. You're not even really meant to ever achieve these beauty standards because the failure to do so drives insecurity and thus creates an incentive to devote significant amounts of time and money on the supplies and treatments that supposedly will get you closer to achieving them.

Beauty standards are deeply tied to power and those with the means to create the dominant cultural narratives around what is beautiful and what is ugly. It is intimately woven with class, race, gender, sexuality, ability, and a wide myriad of other socioeconomic factors built by the forces of history. There are always of course various countercultural and non-dominant group alternatives to these standards that may be encouraged within their social circles, though they will generally still be subjected to the judgement of the standards set by those wielding cultural hegemony.

Embrace the fact that none of this is objective or natural (with the possible exception of the evolutionarily-ingrained reactions to signs of death of disease that were developed to avoid threats to our safety). Only you get to decide what is beautiful to you. We are all shaped by the culture around us, but we can reject it and take efforts to try and not internalize its values within ourselves. It's important to remember that no one can actually perfectly embody all the beauty standards socially created, and that even if they could, those standards will change over their lifetime and they will also be subject to aging, illness, or injury like all of us. So have fun with it. Try out that unconventional hairstyle or color, wear those clothes that aren't in fashion but make you feel happy. Make your own beauty however you wish, so long as it doesn't harm anyone.

[Northern Socialist Council Republics]

I think young people with good hygiene who are healthy and physically fit are attractive. I think that's a baseline that's shared across a broad sweep of 21st Century liberal-democratic society. Naturally I have some unique takes on this (I have an aversion to facial/body hair, for example, but many others enjoy them, and some don't care either way... de gustibus non est disputandum) but that's the popular baseline shared by many, I think.

I'm reasonably young-ish and have acceptable hygiene, so that's two checkboxes ticked. Unfortunately, health and physical fitness... perhaps not so much. For me those deficiencies are a source of endless body insecurity.

Only you get to decide what is beautiful to you. We are all shaped by the culture around us, but we can reject it and take efforts to try and not internalize its values within ourselves.

Recognising how I came to have the preferences that I do don't make those preferences go away, unfortunately.

[Canis Sapiens]

Ugly can be so beautiful when it happens to those who deserve it.

[DutchFormosa]

I think young people with good hygiene who are healthy and physically fit are attractive. I think that's a baseline that's shared across a broad sweep of 21st Century liberal-democratic society. Naturally I have some unique takes on this (I have an aversion to facial/body hair, for example, but many others enjoy them, and some don't care either way... de gustibus non est disputandum) but that's the popular baseline shared by many, I think.

I'm reasonably young-ish and have acceptable hygiene, so that's two checkboxes ticked. Unfortunately, health and physical fitness... perhaps not so much. For me those deficiencies are a source of endless body insecurity.

I don't really care if I look attractive to other people, but knowing that I eventually won't look young anymore scares me. I know it's natural but I've always feared aging and getting older generally