Lifestyle

This Twitter Thread About Big Nose Beauty Is Everything

by Kristen Mae
Sydney Jade/Twitter and Tharakorn Arunothai/EyeEm/Getty

I have what many would call a “cute” nose. It is not big, but it has a narrow bridge and a round, bulbous tip. I’ve always hated that round, bulbous tip. However, my nose was not the subject of middle school bullying (my acne, which persists to this day, took care of that effectively enough), so although I disliked my nose, the fact that its presence didn’t cause me any trauma meant I didn’t spend an excessive amount of time worrying about it.

That’s not the case for a lot of people, as evidenced by a thread from Twitter user Sydney Jade. She tweeted, “I need to start a thread of big noses pls join!!!!!!!! Trying to love myself, starting with what I have always struggled to accept!!”

Hundreds of people responded to the tweet, sharing pics of their “big” or “ugly” noses, many of them telling stories of terrible bullying they have endured because of their noses.

Interestingly, I was drawn to the thread because the picture Sydney had posted struck me as beautiful. Literally, I was speed-scrolling through Twitter, procrastinating on work I should have been doing, and the picture caught my eye because I thought it was beautiful. And not “beautiful despite the size of her nose.” Just beautiful. Only when I slowed my scrolling and read the text did I realize it was meant to be an image that would intentionally highlight the size of her nose, which she says she has struggled to accept.

I felt a strange mix of feelings as I scrolled through the responses: Heartbreak that any of these beautiful humans would have been made to feel bad about their faces. Confusion that anyone ever thought any of these people had anything remotely wrong with them to begin with. Admiration because every face I looked at was beautiful. Joy that their beauty was being celebrated in this awesome thread full of absolutely gorgeous humans.

To be clear: I love a statement nose. Sure, I am capable of recognizing the bland attractiveness of what the beauty industry claims exemplifies beauty: Giant, wide-set eyes, plump, pouty lips, a delicate, narrow chin, and a nose that barely exists. It’s almost impossible not to notice that generic beauty when it jumps out at you from beauty industry ads, aggressively sparkling at you with its poreless, airbrushed perfection. When so many with wealth and fame go to such lengths to mold themselves into that arbitrary standard, often going so far as to make themselves unrecognizable, it’s kind of impossible not to notice that type of beauty.

But damn, I really just fucking love a statement nose, and there is no way I’m the only one. I get the insecurity, especially because people are mean AF sometimes, but seriously, look at these beautiful people!

Some dumb fuckwit said she would be a “solid 7” if not for her nose?? Sorry, but nothing about this face is not a perfect 10. I want to strangle the guy who said this to her. Idiot.

These humans are stunning, and not in spite of their noses, but because of them. Literally, their noses are like the best part of their faces.

It’s hard for me to even comprehend that any of these gorgeous people ever wanted to change anything about their face.

They look perfect to me. In trying to understand that urge to have a different nose, I even tried to imagine some of the folks in the thread as having one of those dainty, generic noses, and it just felt criminal.

Because, seriously, why mess with perfection?

So, I just want to tell any of you who have ever felt insecure about your nose, you are beautiful and perfect.

Beauty standards are arbitrary fucking nonsense bullshit deliberately designed to make us feel like shit about ourselves so we’ll spend money trying to “fix” ourselves. It’s every bit as bad as the damn diet industry. Well, they don’t get to decide what is and isn’t beautiful, and neither do the bullies from your childhood or even from now. The people who bully are weak-minded, brainwashed by the beauty industry and don’t even know it.

If you have a statement nose, we’d love for you to share a selfie with us. You are perfectly gorgeous exactly as you are, and it’s high fucking time someone told you so.