My best friend has recently started dating a new girl. Well, a girl we used to know but probably haven't seen in at least seven years. This is the same slob who has the science experiment toilet and yet, the other day before taking this girl out, he cleaned out his truck. He even dusted it! His sister, who has never met the girl, was immediately intrigued and as soon as he left for their date, we whipped out the computer. We found her easily enough and scrolled through her photos. She is definitely pretty but her photos were a little desperate. In all of them, she was in low cut tops or bikinis. And she has the Courtney Stodden pose down pat. She pushed her chest out so much that her rib cage was out as far as her boobs. Lest this create a top heavy impression, she also had arched her back and stuck her butt out to rival Kim Kardashian's rear. She looked good, but was trying way too hard to look that way.
I would say that in about half of my Facebook photos I look bad. I tend to make weird faces, have a double chin, or just in general have the extra ten pounds the camera adds. And I leave those posts tagged. Because as much as I would like to deny it, sometimes that's just what I look like. I am not a model and there is no point in cropping and editing until I look like one. Nobody wants to be the girl everyone thinks is pretty, until they see her again in real life. You all have those moments when you meet someone, at a bar or at a party and kind of forget about them until their friend request pops up. You scroll through their photos and think "Wow, this person is really quite attractive!". Except, they're not. They're just a whiz with photoshop. It's always immediately obvious when someone is reusing old photos, before they put on that extra 25 or got a ridiculous hair cut. It just draws attention to how different you look now and highlights the changes (flaws) you are trying to hide.
No matter how thin and pretty you are, trying too hard makes you look insecure. When I teased my friend about his beau's butt pose, he agreed with me and said it was because she was insecure. He had mentioned to her, some of her more provocative poses and she told him she "needed to look good always" in her photos. While I am a big believer in putting your best foot forward, it can't be someone else's photoshopped and more attractive foot. Rock how you look, possible fat arm and all.
This isn't to say I don't try my best to look good in a photo. I try to make my arms look thin by tucking them at an angle. I bevel my stance. I lift my chin when I smile. But equally often, I look cross eyed at the camera or stick out my tongue. Or I form some weird shape in which I am almost guaranteed a belly roll. And that's okay, because to me, self confidence is just as pretty, tongue hanging out or not.
(PS PLEASE STOP MAKING THE DUCK FACE, NO ONE THINKS IT IS CUTE!)
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