Being attractive is a universal desire for most people.
However, just like how every cloud has a silver lining, every blessing has a disadvantage.
What are the downsides to being hot?
These Redditors will reveal the truth to being attractive.
Redditor automaticsage asked:
"Good looking people of Reddit, what are some actual disadvantages you face because of your looks?"
Social moth.
Arrogance. Everybody thinks you're an arrogant f**k when you don't talk or make contact at a social gathering. It's simply because I want to chill and be reserved. Nothing to do with arrogance.
I'd say I'm a social butterfly but I'm really just a social moth.
Often not related.
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They assume I have a large penis too, they are often disappointed.
The Halo effect describes the phenomenon that when people notice positive attributes in one specific field they also assume them to exist in other fields. It's a cognitive bias.
Not the worst assumption.
People assume I'm gay when I'm with male friends.
People assumed I'm gay because I'm quiet lmao. But it was only a problem when I was in the US
The struggle.
Huge pressure to find a partner. I've been called cute by girls and women for years now, because of my colour and eye combination but I've never had a girlfriend. When people jokingly ask me how many girlfriends I've had, or how many hearts I've broken, I feel an insane amount of pressure because I've never had a girlfriend and I don't currently have one.
And if you're wondering, I've got green-blue eyes with a Mediterranean colouring.
Wooooow.
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People seem to assume I'm (F) stupid or naive and need help. My favorite was when a cable guy drew a map of how he would run a cord from the 1st floor to the 2nd of my townhome. He even mimicked using a drill while making drill sounds with his mouth.
I have a PhD in mechanical engineering.
This got real.
People project a lot of their feelings onto you, they make a lot of assumptions.
If the haze wears off and I don't meet their made up standards for me, they get mad like I betrayed them.
To add to this, for me it becomes more of a problem with close friends. When we're at a bar on a Friday night and I'm sitting with my buddy who really likes this one girl in the bar and she comes to talk and its evident she's more into me than him.
I'm not really trying and I am barely interested in you an my friend here is cool, smart, funny and likes you can you please stop looking at my face and throw him a bone?
Who doesn't love Cheetos though?
As a guy, apparently I look a little too intimidating, if that makes sense. Like I look like the person who has their life figured out and doesn't take crap from people. In reality, I'm a socially awkward guy who loves nerdy facts and Cheetos.
I've been told my husband looks intimidating. And they think I look so sweet because I am usually smiling.
Funny thing is: he's a sweet ol' teddy bear. I'm the b*tch.
Reddit Users Share Their Best 'It's A Small World After All' Experience
Dating is tough enough.
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In dating life, people really expect a lot more from you when you're good lookin'.
They go off on your looks, and create an image in their heads of what you'd be like, before actually meeting you.
I hate it. I hate it. I f**king hate it! I struggle with self doubt so it hurts when I can't live up to some impossible image that they created of me in their heads. What are your options? Act inauthentically or watch them slowly lose interest? How do you even communicate this kind of discomfort?
I avoid dating.
Extrovert problems.
Any friendly conversation I have with a guy or just smiling (I am an extroverted person) is automatically considered flirting. The unrealistic expectations and assumption that I can easily find a relationship.
Guys, good guys especially, are intimidated by my looks too easily and just give up either because of insecurity or because they think I am high maintenance. Ugh!!!!
A surprising difficulty with women.
Until I met my wife I always had difficulty with women. Mainly back in high school, the girls that did want to go out with me were shallow and just wanted the status of having me as their boyfriend. Those were really bad relationships that never lasted long.
And then there were the girls I actually liked who weren't extremely popular and had trouble believing I had genuine interest in them. I admit that it didn't help that I had had a number of short relationships with the 'it' girls in school which gave the appearance to some that I was a player but that wasn't me on the inside.
It took moving cities before I finally managed to meet women who didn't have pre-conceived notions about me and would give me a chance based on merit rather than reputation. Even now, at 36 years of age, we get women who glare at my wife and I as we walk along holding hands or try to flirt with me in front of her. It is fun to shut them down by telling them about the kind of woman I like while simultaneously putting my arm around my wife though.
Babyface.
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That I am a kid. Like I am in high school and I have a huge babyface. I look like I'm 11. It now looks stupid since I am growing a beard.
Ugh, mansplaining.
I'm not amazing looking but I (F) have a certain quality about me. Not bad looking, cute, a bit of a goofy personality and physically quite clumsy, and oh so approachable and non threatening. Think Anne Hathaway playing a character in a film in the noughties.
I get a lot of unsolicited advice from men and find it hard to do anything in public without some arrogant b*stard sliding up and forcing a sh*tty laugh and explaining the correct way to do it. In my old job a guy even tried to show me how to mop a floor and I'm surprised there wasn't smoke coming from my ears.
That's annoying.
I get treated like my self esteem issues don't count because of my appearance. I had terrible self esteem throughout the majority of my teens which I've worked really hard to try and overcome, but I still feel uncomfortable even posting in this thread because of them. Thanks to a mixture of genetics and how I've been exercising regularly since I was like 8 years old (now 22), I'm both curvy and visibly fit (aside from cardio but I'm working on that) and as I've gotten older I've become more aware if the effect I can have on people, but when I try to express my insecurities I basically always get some sort of response along the lines of how I'm so pretty and so many people would kill to look how I do and I have the perfect body. Funnily enough, it never makes me feel better.
ETA: Thought of another one. People I'm friends with will just... tell me they had a crush on me/want to sleep with me fairly regularly, then just leave me with that information to deal with. I'm bi so I also get a double dose of it, and tbh it is kinda affecting how I act around friends, because I'm always a little on edge and hyperaware that they may only be friends with me because they want to hook up with me. I have had people straight up just stop talking to me as soon as they get into relationships, and it's always so hurtful when that happens because it seriously just feels like they were my friend because they wanted to f*ck me, and as soon as that stopped being an option I was dropped.
Jealousy is a disease.
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I'm female. I "blossomed" when I was 19 and it was very difficult for me to deal with. It became impossible to make female friends during college for one. Women HATED me. They wouldn't want me around, wouldn't talk to me, would be extremely mean-spirited, make a point of excluding me socially, and I truly had no idea what was going on because I grew up awkward and never thought of myself as looking like anyone but...me. But overnight, my looks were getting a LOT of attention. It was very confusing and at times, extremely painful and hard for me to navigate. People were constantly commenting on my looks which made me embarrassed.
Sometimes women will want to be friends with me as a way to deal with their own insecurity issues to try to make themselves feel better (by putting me down and cutting me apart once we're "friends"). Or, people will feel better about themselves if they can be convinced you're stupid, so they'll try to make you out to be an idiot. Also, it generally seems to make people feel intimidated no matter how nice you are so they end up being cold / rude / generally weird toward you. Also, people will make your looks a topic of conversation which can be very embarrassing. Or say things like "you're so pretty, it's too bad you wear your hair this way...you don't dress up more..." etc.
I'm older now, and I get less attention than I used to, and for that, I'm grateful. My looks are nothing like they used to be and it's a relief. My husband says he sees people checking me out all the time, but I think either he's sweetly flattering me or I've just learned to ignore the looks. I really don't think I look that special (and I have my own insecurities as well), but people tell me all the time that I'm beautiful. It's nice sometimes, but I honestly wish I just had a pleasant, regularly attractive face that didn't get any sort of extra attention. For the few times I've enjoyed it, it's honestly been more of a distraction and prevented people from getting to really know me. That's the hardest part for me. The distance it causes people to keep from me.
Unless you're in the entertainment industry or modeling and making money from your looks (I tried that route and hated the whole thing), for me personally, it's been pretty much just a hassle.
This is infuriating.
I get sexually harassed every single day I leave my house. It's contributed to me having agoraphobia bouts and causes me a lot of stress and anxiety. I've tried dressing differently, not wearing makeup, not doing my hair but it doesn't matter. I feel wound up and on edge when I just want to be able to walk down the street without being yelled at or followed or even touched by strangers.
- Attractive People Divulge The One Thing They Feel Insecure About - George Takei ›
- People Describe Which Things Are Not As Attractive As People Think - George Takei ›
- People Break Down How Attractive They Believe They Are - George Takei ›
- Women Share The Biggest Downsides To Being Female - George Takei ›
The old wives' tales.
They are the stories of legend.
I think we all need a big DEEP Google dive though.
Where did they originate?
WHO ARE THE OLD WIVES!
You don't hear about them as much anymore.
It's like science and logic are suddenly a thing.
But they sure are a good way to keep your kids and their behavior in line.
Redditor the_spring_goddess wanted to discuss the tall tales we've all been fed through life, so they asked:
"What is an old wives tale that people still believe?"
"Wait an hour to swim after eating."
What a crock!
So many summer hours wasted.
I want revenge for that one.
Say Nothing
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"An undercover cop has to tell you he's a cop if you ask him."
LonelyMail5115
"Pretty much most advice when it comes to cops are old wives tales. I’m not even a cop but most of the advice you hear is pretty off."
I_AM_AN_A**HOLE_AMA
Say Something
"That you have to wait 24 hours to report someone missing."
Severe_Airport1426
"I really think this one is important and should be the top regardless. As it’s a piece of advice that needs to be relearned and the only way to do that is through awareness."
crappycurtains
"This used to be true. I think they changed it after some guy named Brandon went missing back in the '80s or '70s. You used to have to wait 24 hours if the missing person was an adult because they had 'a right to be missing' and then everyone realized that was stupid and stopped doing it."
AlbinoShavedGorilla
Body Temps
"That drinking ice cold water after eating oily foods will solidify the oil and permanently remain in your body. I informed my coworker that if your body temperature ever reached that point, you’d have bigger problems than weight gain."
chriseo22
"Oh, I have a cousin who 100% believed this. One of those guys who believed every early 2000s internet rumor and old wives tale. One night I chugged a big glass of ice water after dinner and he started freaking out and saying my guts were gonna harden."
"I sarcastically told him to drive me to the hospital if that happened. Obviously, nothing happened and the next morning I said something like 'Thanks for being on standby in case my guts filled with hardened oil.' He just walked off muttering under his breath."
apocalypticradish
Arms Down
"When I was pregnant, I was told by young and old alike that I should NOT raise my arms above my head or exert myself in such a manner because it could cause cord strangulation to my unborn sons and daughters."
Fatmouse84
10 Years Actually
Unimpressed Uh Huh GIF by Brooklyn Nine-Nine
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"Chewing gum stays in your stomach for 7 years."
"I remember accidentally swallowing a piece of gum when I was a kid in like 1995 and just accepting my fate like welp, gonna have this in my stomach til high school I guess."
Gecko-911
I was so afraid to sallow my gum when I was young.
This tale is haunting.
High/Low
Hungry Debra Messing GIF by Will & Grace
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"You can tell the sex of the baby by how you carry."
LeastFormal9366
"Pregnancy certainly wins awards for the most old wives tales. So much absolute BS was repeated to us by everyone we talked to."
IllIIIlIllIlIIlIllI
The Cursed
"If you’re a woman and you wear opal jewelry but opal is not your birthstone (October), you’ll never be able to have children, or will be widowed, or just generally have bad luck or something. You can counteract this by having a diamond in the same piece of jewelry as the opal, though."
"I have a nice opal ring that my parents gave me years ago, and I’ve had other women give me this 'advice' unprompted more than once when I’ve worn it. I have absolutely no idea where it started, but I’m pretty sure this little chunk of silicate rock has no concept of what month I was born in, let alone of how my reproductive organs work."
SmoreOfBabylon
Stay In
"Going outside with wet hair will make you get pneumonia. Or an earache. Or maybe arthritis. Depends on which old wife you listen to."
"Jokes on them - I haven't blow-dried my hair in decades and usually leave the house with wet hair in the morning. On winter mornings, the tips of my hair get frozen. No ear infections or pneumonia or arthritis yet."
worldbound0514
Dreams and Facts
"You never make anyone up in your dreams you've seen everyone in your dreams somewhere else before and never make anyone up entirely."
"How would you possibly prove that to be true? My partner adamantly believes this and tells me this 'fact' whenever I have a dream about someone I've never met before."
mattshonestreddit
"My late wife used to tell me that before she met me she would have dreams of standing at an alter on her wedding day but could never see the guy's face, no matter how hard she tried. After meeting me the face was filled in with mine. Don't know if it's true but one of those things I like thinking of every now and then when I miss her."
Darthdemented
Cracked
Getting Ready Episode 2 GIF by The Office
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"Some people still believe cracking knuckles causes arthritis."
Choice-Grapefruit-44
"There's a doctor (Donald Unger) that cracked his knuckles a couple of times a day for 60 years, but only on one hand, just to prove it. Both hands remained exactly the same."
MacyTmcterry
I love my knuckles.
Do you have any tall tales to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.
Every now and then, a friend of ours might say something, or we might overhear a complete stranger say something that makes us stop in our tracks.
More often than not, what we can't believe we just heard is something so ridiculous, we can't help but put the person who said it in their place.
Other times, however, what we just heard might have stunned us silent because of how shockingly clever it was.
Resulting in our not wanting to scold or yell at someone, but rather give them a handshake.
Redditor SubmergingOriginal was curious to hear the sharpest and wittiest things they've ever heard, from friends and strangers alike, leading them to ask:
"Enough with the dumbest; what is the wittiest thing you've ever heard someone say?"
Don't Give Me So Much Credit...
'I was on a team at work that was on a project working insane overtime."
"One night after an 80-90 hour week, we were all sitting around the table trying to finish up so we could go home."
"Around 11, my buddy's wife called, dubious about the hours he'd been keeping."
"We heard her through the line - 'are you cheating on me?'"
"Exasperated, he looked at our boss, then replied 'honey, if I was cheating on you, I would have been home by now'."- lionbatcher
Eternal Optimism...
"Asked a blind guy if he'd been blind his whole life."
"He said 'Not yet'."- Feeling_Mode_6465
Free time Isn't The Only Thing He Has On His Hands...
"My brother got a vasectomy and when the doctor was releasing him and giving him instructions (with the nurse listening in), one of the orders was to 'come back and have a follow-up appointment after you’ve ejaculated 30 times'.”
"Without missing a beat my brother asked 'what time do you open tomorrow?'”
"The nurse couldn’t keep it together after hearing that."- UtahUtopia
Awkward Season 8 GIF by The Office
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Double Whammy!
"My pal uses the phrase 'he doesn’t look strong enough to carry information' and it cracks me up every time."
"Calling someone stupid and weak in one fell swoop."- JennyW93
Can't Hide Your DNA...
'Whenever I jokingly insult my mum, she says 'that must be where you get it from'."
"She cracked the code."
"I can never offend her without offending myself."- JennyW93
Self-Sufficient!
"My brother was a line cook at a New Orleans restaurant."
"My mom was in town, staying at a fancy hotel, and he stopped by after work, still wearing his kitchen whites."
"He was reading a newspaper in the lobby waiting for her to come down when the shocked lobby manager sputtered at him, 'MAY I HELP YOU!?!?'
"He answered, 'thanks, but I know how to read',” and went back to his paper."- jobrody
Morph Current Affairs GIF by Aardman Animations
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A Miracle!
"My brother-in-law’s comment."
"The entire family went out for my mother’s 80th birthday and after the meal we all went to a local park, largely occupied by the elderly, to rest."
"My mother needed crutches at this point, and they were resting against her bench."
"My 10-year-old niece, who looked like every starving waif image from Dickens, grabbed the crutches and started hobbling round the park."
"All the OAPs were following her progress with looks of pity until my brother ran up behind her, and kicked away the crutches."
"There was an audible gasp from round the park and then my niece picked the crutches back up and started chasing my brother, clearly intending to hit him."
"In the confused silence my brother-in-law’s voice rang out 'Praise be! She can walk again!'"
"We still think this was the highlight of the birthday celebrations."- DdraigGwyn
Still Legal, Whichever Way You Cut It...
"I picked up my pleasantly tipsy boyfriend from a nightclub."
"We were stopped by the Police for a random breath test."
"They asked me my age, and I said, 33."
"My bf blurted out '33? You told me you were 22'."
"Police just laughed and let me go."- Aggravating-Corgi379
Music Video Police GIF by Andrew W. K.
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A Bit Too On The Nose?
"Business law class in college years ago, talking about the issues that black Americans had before the Civil Rights."
"Amendment, trying to travel through the south with the discrimination so rampant, trying to find restaurants to serve them and decent lodgings."
"My instructor was posing a hypothetical: 'So you pull up out front of this place, you're exhausted from driving for hours, and you see the sign out front says 'Ku Klux Klan Motel'."
"'What would you expect to find there?'"
"Without missing a beat, from the back of the room came this gem: "'Extra sheets in every room?'"- NedsAtomicDB
Not Yet, Anyway...
"I was working with my friend and his dad."
"My friend (26) heard an ice cream truck near where we were working."
"He asked his dad if he could have a couple dollars."
"His dad asked, 'what for?'"
"My friend told his dad that there was an ice cream truck in the neighborhood, and that they were playing music."
"My friends dad told him "'They don't charge anything to listen to the music'."- tatersalad1234567890
Words Escape You In The Literal "Heat" Of The Moment...
"A friend of mine is a teacher and her husband is known for his wit."
"She told this story to him:"
"One day at school a kid took the hall pass and returned reeking like smoke."
"She asked the kid if he’d been smoking and he denied it over and over."
"She was about to send him to the office when she noticed smoke coming from somewhere."
"She told the kid and he realized that he didn’t put his cig out completely and it was burning in his pants pocket."
"The kid noticed and frantically tried to put it out and someone finally poured water on it."
"Her husband sat listening to this with a weird look on his face."
"She asked him what was wrong."
“'What’s wrong???'"
"'This was probably the only chance you’ll have in your life to say literally, ‘liar,liar, pants on fire’ and you missed your chance'."- Luder714
On Fire No GIF by PEEKASSO
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Amazing What You Might Say A Few Drinks In...
"When I went to a renaissance faire once, I went to a beer tent and ordered a Newcastle Brown Ale (seemed the most fitting for the surroundings)."
"The beer wench, without skipping a beat, said, 'Everyone wants a Newcastle - no one wants to remodel!'"- jayhof52
Read The Room People!
"My dad wiped out when skiing down a mountain and lost a ski."
"After a few minutes of hunting for it, he gives up, slings the one remaining ski over a shoulder and starts walking down the mountain in his ski boots."
"About half-way down, another skier stops and goes 'Gee! Did you lose a ski?'"
"My dad instantly replied 'No, I was out for a walk and found one!'"- PeterJoAl
There's a reason your mother always told you to "use your words".
As clever remarks can have a much more lasting effect on people than a push or shove.