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On having an average face
Jan. 22nd, 2008 06:56 pmSo, at Arisia, I saw a bunch of people who didn't recognize me. I waved at them, and they looked kind of blankly at me.
I'm not offended or anything: it's a result of the face that I have.
I have an average, normal face. And I like it.
My face shape is a pretty standard slightly-squared-off oval, the kind that you'd draw if you were drawing a (male) face, but not of anyone in particular. My nose has no notable characteristics about it. It sticks out about as far as average, is about as large as you'd expect a nose to be. I have the expected number of eyes -- two -- of standard size and shape, set about as far apart as is common. My eyebrows are eyebrow-shaped, my mouth is mouth-shaped, my chin is chin-shaped.
I have the haircut that my barber gives when you order a "Men's Regular". Along with a neatly-trimmed full beard of exactly the length and style that my barber trims it to when you buy the "Haircut and Beard Trim" combo. And my barber is a good, skilled, traditional barber from a traditional barber shop, whose "Men's Regular" and "Beard Trim" are exactly as neat and tidy as a good, skilled barber would traditionally make them.
I have male-pattern baldness that is following the male pattern. My eyeglasses are what you'd think of if you thought of the word "eyeglasses" without any adjectives.
I am short, so I'm hard to see in crowds, but that is mainly because of my shorter-than-average legs -- my torso is normal length, so, if you look at me, I don't look short. I'm fat, but not unusually so -- just enough that people's hind-brain sees me as "not any sort of particular threat, or target".
I like this about me. It's not without its downsides, but, on the whole, I like it.
If you know me well, you recognize me. But anyone else?
If you've met me a couple times, you'll have a hard time putting me in context -- my face doesn't have any specific trait that you can use as a handle to "index" it in your brain, but you'll feel that I'm familiar. If you've only met me once, you'll have a vague feeling that I'm familiar, but not know why.
And if you've never seen me before in your life, you'll STILL feel that I'm someone you vaguely know somehow.
And that makes me more approachable than most people. I feel familiar, friendly, even to complete strangers.
That's worth it to me.
I'm not offended or anything: it's a result of the face that I have.
I have an average, normal face. And I like it.
My face shape is a pretty standard slightly-squared-off oval, the kind that you'd draw if you were drawing a (male) face, but not of anyone in particular. My nose has no notable characteristics about it. It sticks out about as far as average, is about as large as you'd expect a nose to be. I have the expected number of eyes -- two -- of standard size and shape, set about as far apart as is common. My eyebrows are eyebrow-shaped, my mouth is mouth-shaped, my chin is chin-shaped.
I have the haircut that my barber gives when you order a "Men's Regular". Along with a neatly-trimmed full beard of exactly the length and style that my barber trims it to when you buy the "Haircut and Beard Trim" combo. And my barber is a good, skilled, traditional barber from a traditional barber shop, whose "Men's Regular" and "Beard Trim" are exactly as neat and tidy as a good, skilled barber would traditionally make them.
I have male-pattern baldness that is following the male pattern. My eyeglasses are what you'd think of if you thought of the word "eyeglasses" without any adjectives.
I am short, so I'm hard to see in crowds, but that is mainly because of my shorter-than-average legs -- my torso is normal length, so, if you look at me, I don't look short. I'm fat, but not unusually so -- just enough that people's hind-brain sees me as "not any sort of particular threat, or target".
I like this about me. It's not without its downsides, but, on the whole, I like it.
If you know me well, you recognize me. But anyone else?
If you've met me a couple times, you'll have a hard time putting me in context -- my face doesn't have any specific trait that you can use as a handle to "index" it in your brain, but you'll feel that I'm familiar. If you've only met me once, you'll have a vague feeling that I'm familiar, but not know why.
And if you've never seen me before in your life, you'll STILL feel that I'm someone you vaguely know somehow.
And that makes me more approachable than most people. I feel familiar, friendly, even to complete strangers.
That's worth it to me.