Sometimes when I look in the mirror for long enough that I can start to perceive parts of my face, I can see why my wife has fallen for me.

Then I look away and the memory of what the parts of my face I can understand falls away, and I don’t remember what I look like anymore.

And she's not cis, she's just stupidly gorgeous fml.

But I guess that's the tale-as-old-as-time issue, of unrealistic body standards on social media. Girls' bane since time immemorial.

(Joking aside, I'm not actually bothered, gorgeous people are great to admire, however everyone can grow into incredible versions of themselves, if not deprived of time and effort. Take care of yourselves, growth is slow 🩷)

Its interesting to hear you describe this, I think mostly because it is the total opposite for me.

When I don't look or just see me face from the corner of my eye, I know I am beauty and goodlookin, because people have honestly tole me that and I just know it.

But the second my eyes hit the face in the mirror? Most days the girl is gone in half a second, making way to somehing (someone?) I don't even know if it is me or what else.

Weird this whole self perception thing, eh.

Women don't need to be pretty to deserve your respect.

You should only aim for what makes you feel good. I hope that one day we'll get beyond grading other human beings based on things like physical beauty.

I don't even register the thing in the mirror as me. I get an actual surprised reaction sometimes.

Same with how my arms and body feels around me, I'm just unconscious of all of it. It's too terrible to register it as me.

My fusiform gyrus is basically dead, so I have a real hard time perceiving faces. Most folks just look life the still lifes from Backrooms.

You should only aim for what makes you feel good.

Instructions unclear, can't get rid of human body without involuntarily getting rid of the psyche trapped inside it as well.

Damn that sounds tough, and tbh almost a bit horroresque. Wishing all the best to you amd hope you your way through life <3

For what it's worth, for most of my life I just thought that's how shit went, that everyone looks real weird until I get a good look and their face resolves into two eyes, a mouth, and a nose. Only when I was watching Backrooms and I couldn't get the still lifes to resolve, did I realize that someone else understood what was going on with me.

Still have no facial memory, so every time I see my wife is the first time.

And it's not like I flinch at everyone I look at; rather, that's just how people look, and Silent Hill is a bit less scary than it ought to be.

A family member approached me in public the other day but I didn't recognise them because they had gotten a haircut and were in an unexpected location 😂