Exactly. I grew up with a lot of girls who spent tons of time agonizing about their looks, and not nearly enough on school or getting job skills or a personality.
After a few kids and 10 years of marriage, time and stress does what it will do, and there just ain't anything Botox or Estee Lauder can do anymore. And so the guy trades them in on a new model, and they're left with memories of having peaked at 19 because they don't have much else.
I suppose in some way I'm kind of grateful for my illness. I was never a knockout, and I was bookish and more of a tomboy than the other girls around me, but I had my own shallow vanity phase for a while. I did the bulimia and the 4-inch heels and miniskirts and stuff (see icon. Sigh...) And then my bod said, "Ha! Time for your endocrine system to get fubared, chica!" and within a few years, that was that.
It was (and still is) frustrating, but the net result is that all those shallow people who would've otherwise been faking their way into my life disappeared--and I got a whole heckuva lot less shallow myself, too. I still have certain physical types that trip my triggers more than others--usually because they remind me of someone I like--but generally speaking, I really can go for just about anyone if the person is right. And I think that's given me some really amazing friendships and relationships I'd never have had otherwise.
I wouldn't wish my illness on anyone, but I do think it's helped me get down to who people really are--for good or bad--beyond the container they're in.
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momijizukamori
no subject
Date: 2006-05-08 04:12 am (UTC)After a few kids and 10 years of marriage, time and stress does what it will do, and there just ain't anything Botox or Estee Lauder can do anymore. And so the guy trades them in on a new model, and they're left with memories of having peaked at 19 because they don't have much else.
I suppose in some way I'm kind of grateful for my illness. I was never a knockout, and I was bookish and more of a tomboy than the other girls around me, but I had my own shallow vanity phase for a while. I did the bulimia and the 4-inch heels and miniskirts and stuff (see icon. Sigh...) And then my bod said, "Ha! Time for your endocrine system to get fubared, chica!" and within a few years, that was that.
It was (and still is) frustrating, but the net result is that all those shallow people who would've otherwise been faking their way into my life disappeared--and I got a whole heckuva lot less shallow myself, too. I still have certain physical types that trip my triggers more than others--usually because they remind me of someone I like--but generally speaking, I really can go for just about anyone if the person is right. And I think that's given me some really amazing friendships and relationships I'd never have had otherwise.
I wouldn't wish my illness on anyone, but I do think it's helped me get down to who people really are--for good or bad--beyond the container they're in.