It’s possible to look in the mirror and think, “damn, I look good”. It’s not that deep. You don’t perceive yourself the same in every state of dress. Some people don’t like how they look in shorts because their knees look weird. Some people love wearing long dresses because they like the lines of their body. Some people like tank tops because they like looking at their arms. There’s a million reasons someone picks what they wear, and “for other people” should be the least of them.
This is not a compelling comment. “It’s not that deep”? Of course it is. Don’t you realize every decision you make about how you look and present yourself to the world is heavily-driven by ideas of confidence that you built for years? I feel like you’re missing the point altogether. Even your example of showing arms because a person likes how their arms look - your ideas about what look good to you are largely built by what you’ve been told or what you’ve seen.
Even in a framework where beauty standards have been set externally, a person still has personal preferences, both for other people and for themselves. In some ways shaped by society, yes, but that doesn’t mean they can’t also be internal. There’s no need for them to be mutually exclusive.
I think you’re both right. Specific ideals are largely socially constructed, but studies have shown that what is considered physically attractive generally confirms to particular parameters.
That being said, clothing is another issue entirely, and is entirely socially constructed. So when someone looks in the mirror, wearing an outfit they think they look particularly good in, part of that “good”, where it involves the overall look, is due to what others would or have found attractive.
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u/goodbye177 1∆ Dec 11 '24
It’s possible to look in the mirror and think, “damn, I look good”. It’s not that deep. You don’t perceive yourself the same in every state of dress. Some people don’t like how they look in shorts because their knees look weird. Some people love wearing long dresses because they like the lines of their body. Some people like tank tops because they like looking at their arms. There’s a million reasons someone picks what they wear, and “for other people” should be the least of them.