Yep. When I was an adolescent I had a really bad overbite. It took over six years, and lots of orthodontic hardware to fix my teeth. The original cast of my my teeth, and a cast of my teeth at the end of my treatment remained on display in a case at my orthodontist’s office for years. He said I was one of his ten most challenging cases. He was the only orthodontist in our area who would work on my mouth, and he gave my mom a discount to help us out. My teeth were so jumbled up that I had difficulty eating, so I was way too skinny,too. The other kids would make the snap judgement that I was mentally retarded, based on my appearance. So glad I was able to get my teeth fixed at last. They are far from perfect, but at least I can shut my mouth now, on the rare occasions that I do so… I also have size eleven feet. This used to bother me a lot, but now I joke about it if people happen to mention it. I suppose if I had to, I could put my foot down…
Tabithina, are you me? I used to get called Bucky Beaver in grade school until I got braces. I was really, really skinny, too.
After the braces came off, and I filled in a little, I went through a period of being a hot little number if I do say so myself. The only problem was, I still had so much baggage left over from that “awkward” stage, that I couldn’t really enjoy it.
Nobody calls me ugly, now. I’m not nearly as cute as I was when I was 17, but I’ll do. 
Well, never to my face…
Before I lost weight, I was called ugly (and much worse) right in front of my face.
yes.
No.
I don’t think so - but maybe I just blocked it out. I do recall looking in my mirror as a teen and realizing I wasn’t as awful looking as I thought. Even tho no one else would complement me, from that moment on, I was secure enough not to care what others said about my looks.
The way I figure it, someone who judges me on my appearance alone isn’t worth knowing. If you want to hate me, hate me for my intelligence, wit, and cooking abilities…
Sounds like it, only I'm the one with the big feet! I came to the attention of the guys in high school when I was seventeen, and I didn't know how to deal with it. I would always end up picking out the loser of the lot. Didn't have the self esteem to think I deserved any better. By some miracle, I wised up and married a good guy. I like being in my thirties, and somewhere in between ugly and cute (depending on the time of day, and whether my new baby has slept through the night)!---Tabithinayes
Yes. Lots. I choose to ignore it.
I may have brought this on myself, but in high school, occasionally, we discussed appearance amongst our friends. I got a lot of “Well, you’re not conventionally pretty,” which is sort of to be expected, considering the comparative diversity of my hometown–mostly persons of Scandinavian heritage, while I’m fully Indian (of India, not Native American).
I have heard, “Wow, you look much better now that you’ve cut your hair.”
Actually, I think that most of my problem was rather poor self-esteem–I think, had I been more confident in high school, I wouldn’t have felt so ugly. Which, in the long run, is what matters.
I’m going to have to pull a Reagan on this one: “I have no recollection of that…” I’m sure at some point I heard that during school, but I can’t remember any specific instances. However, I’ve always considered myself the nerdy ugly duckling–some much so that in high school I rationalized that girls who, in retrospect, were probably expressing interest in me were instead just trying to be nice.
[minor hijack, but it is kinda funny]
In fact, I still do this. About a year ago I had a cute cashier tell me I looked like Brendan Fraser. All I could think at the moment was “No, I don’t.” I think I just looked at her, confused. She went on, listing off a couple movies thinking I didn’t know who he was. I shrugged, paid, said “Thanks”, and walked away. Now, I still don’t think I look at all like Brendan Fraser, but there’s a sticky note in brain that reads, “If a cute girl says you look like a movie star, even a dim-witted one, at least make conversation, moron.” Then again, if she said, “You look like Brendan Fraser when they unthawed in him in Encino Man”… I still think I look much more like a young Harrison Ford with glasses than Brendan Fraser (but that doesn’t mean I’m not ugly).
More recently (6 months ago), I was with a friend (a 6 foot tall blonde) at her apartment, and she had lit a couple candles and turned off all the lights. I asked her if she sat around in the dark a lot (a dumb question to begin with), and IIRC she either said, “yea” or “sometimes”. Maybe both. Like a complete idiot, I take that literally because I’m thinking there’s no way she could like me that much, and we just talked for a hour or two in the dark… Well, I did put my arm behind her and played with her hair a bit at one point, but that was probably a little too subtle for this particular girl. Afterward she said something like, “If you ever want me to make a move, let me know.”
Yep, I am clueless whenever pretty women are around.
Poysyn said:
:eek: Were these people stupid, or just blind?
“some much so” = “so much so”
:Adding another sticky note:
“If you edit a post, re-read it!”
uh huh.
yeah.
so? 
Once, while I was leading a quality-control seminar at work, one of the participants pointed at me and said “You look just like Fire Marshall Bill!” (Fans of “In Living Color” will understand this reference, and realize it’s not flattering. For those who weren’t familiar with the program, the FMB character was a horribly burned man.)
She retracted the statement, after realizing what she said. She meant that to her, I looked a lot like Jim Carrey, the guy who PLAYED Fire Marshall Bill.
My wife has, on occasion, pointed out guys she considers “hotties.” These are men who do nothing but induce lust in women. In my wife’s words, these are guys that women just want to spend one night with. This has upset me in the past, and she’s tried to explain that hotties aren’t GOOD, they’re BAD. My point to her has always been that just once, just one damn time in my life, I want to be the hottie. I want to be the guy women look at with lust in their hearts. Instead, I’m always the funny, sensitive, caring guy who has picked up the pieces after some hottie has royally screwed a girl over (literally and figuratively).
Is anybody ever happy with the way they look?
Throughout grade and high school, and sometimes at home.
When discussing handsome actors my wife often says, “Handsome guys never appealed to me.”
And you think I do a lot of back pedaling.
Yes, often. Usually accompanied by “and fat”. Mostly throughout school. Thankfully as people grow up they learn to keep their opinions to themselves.
I spent most of my youth with a self-esteem below sea level. Then I found one man who called me “beautiful” and wolf-whistled at me whenever he caught me half dressed. Marrying him is probably the best thing that I’ve ever done.
Tally
Yep! But eventually I learned to scrub up pretty good.
Let 'em all go to hell.
A girl