Beauty Survey

Name: This is on the internet. Not telling. =)

Age: Teen (not telling either).

Height: 5'5

Weight: 123 lbs.

Do you consider yourself attractive?: Yes.

Do others consider you attractive?: Yes. I only know of one or two people that don't, and I;m not sure if there's anyone else who agrees.

What is your biggest insecurity and why? My thighs and butt getting too big. All my weight goes to my thighs and butt, so I'm afraid of becoming too bottom-heavy.

Have you/Would you consider using plastic surgery? Why or why not?: No. I scorn it, especially seeing as how most of the women in my family (on my mother's side) have done some type of cosmetic surgery. Including my mother.

What is your relationship with make-up? Don't wear it, don't buy it and find it a pain to apply it when I HAVE to wear it.

How much money do you/think is reasonable to spend on your appearance?: $10-20. This is for shampoo and conditioner though, does this count?

What is your experience of dieting?: I don't diet. My mom diets, so I guess that means automatically everyone in the house is on a diet. Honestly though, she just cut out sugary, greasy junk foods and started buying healthier food products. SO technically it's not a diet, it's just a change in what we're eating.

Have you/ anyone you know tried any specific diet programs i.e. Lighter Life? How did that affect your health? your moods? your relationships?: I've never tried any sort of specific diet program. My aunt took weight-loss pills though, and I just thought it was really weird and a big waste of money. I mean, she's a housewife, doesn't work or anything, and my uncle just GIVES her money whenever she wants it, so to me it would make more sense for her to convert her basement into a home gym and work out a little. And cut out those cookies and pizza. So I felt a little disgusted at her.

Do you have any experiences of eating disorders i.e. either yourself or someone you know?: I knew girls at school who had bulimia, but I wasn't friends with them. I haven't suffered from any of these disorders.

How did other people react to this; what was the fallout?: N/A.

Have you had negative experiences relating to your appearance and people’s reactions to it? When I was about 12/13, my self-esteem improved A LOT. And it hasn't gone down since then. See, my background is Brazilian, and our image of beauty there is WAYYY different than North American beauty standards. In Brazil, a woman with a curvy, hourglass figure is more desirable than an anorexic model. So once I rejected North American beauty standards (which is hard to do since I live in North America), my self-esteem sky-rocketed, because I DO have an hourglass shape. My mom says I'm fat, and so do one of my aunts (who already has a reputation for putting down other girls), but I don't really care. My aunt also calls me cow tits, because my breasts are 'huge" according to her, but after a while I just learned to ignore her.

What about positive reactions to your body? I get compliments from a lot of people, random people, people I know, etc. My OWN reaction is what counts though, and it's been positive for the most part, but I appreciate constructive criticism.

How has your body image and attitude changed over the years? Yeah. Basically I'm more confident in the way I talk and handle myself. I notice now that I'm more confident people will listen to what I have to say and pay more attention, which is a good thing. My self-esteem suffered a blow when my aunt moved in because the only perfect women are her two daughters, and she is forever comparing me with my cousin who is one month older than me. But then I realized that although my cousins are pretty, their attitude and personalities are not. And I think personality is what really counts in a person.

What do you love about your body? My curves and my eyes. I think the eyes are a Scorpio thing, because I have a lazy-eye but I love them anyways.

What is your opinion on the media portrayal of women’s bodies? I don't follow the North American portrayal of beauty. I only embrace the Brazilian portrayal because it was made for women with body like MINE. And I am Brazilian, so why would I accept anything else? It has flaws obviously. Not every woman is born with an hourglass figure. Women in Brazil are forever getting liposuction, breast reductions, etc, etc, just to fit into this image. But growing up here in North America, I have a lot of resources available to me. There are videos on Youtube demonstrating how PhotoShop is used to change someone's appearance COMPLETELY, and there are enough pictures of Celebrities Without Makeup. We get taught in school about how the media feeds us these images and we are taught to love ourselves the way we are. Now, whether girls actually take these lessons to heart is one thing. But I have, and I'm proud of my body. But I'm also not going to fall into Brazil's trap and get breast reduction just because I have big breasts.

What would you change about the way you/ your friends/ your family/ general people see their bodies? I would like my mother to be less influenced by my aunts (her sisters and sisters-in-law). I would like the women in my family to SHUT THE FUCK UP about my body. I like me the way I am, and there is no way I'm going to change myself for THEM. I want them to realize that unlike THEIR daughters, I'm proud of myself and my appearance, and that's why I don't feel the need to change things about myself. I would like the women in my family to realize that MEN aren't everything, and that a man is more attracted to a woman who is confident in herself, than a woman who is constantly thinking of ways to "upgrade" herself and is constantly reapplying her makeup. I just want women to accept other women, and not compare themselves to other women so much. Just be happy the way you are, and don't criticize other women so much.

What makes you feel beautiful? When I put on a skirt and go salsa dancing. Also when I'm with that special someone.

and just for fun… Do you shave legs/pits/upper lip moustache?
Legs, mostly in the summer because I wear capris and stuff. Armpits, mostly in the summer as well. In the summer I wax below the belt for my swimsuit. No upper lip moustache, but I do my eyebrows obsessively.