Being the ‘cute girl’ stinks sometimes

Who here has been compared to Bambi or a small woodland creature?

Anyone been patted on the head while you’re in your 20s or how about receiving the excuse “I was just hoping you were…I don’t know, not as cute? Like, that you were hotter.”

No, just me? Ok, cool.

I’ve been cursed with the “cute girl” image, one where people assume that I enjoy being compared to a six-year-old. No matter what I do, it seems that I will never break this mold.

I’ve found no matter how hot the clothes are or the amount of make-up I put on, nothing helps me with this image. If anything, I look more like a child playing dress-up than a 21-year-old woman.

And that gets annoying quickly, but I have learned to embrace it.

Just the other day, I was going through customs at the airport, and the man at passport control treated me like I was a child.

He asked to speak to my “teacher” and to make sure that he stamped my passport with care, so I could “show all my little friends back home where I’ve been.” Just from looking at me, this man decided to treat me like a small child, and I do not appreciate it.

Or the fact that I wore a yellow dress to prom, and the only compliment I got all night was that I looked like Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

However, as far as being objectified goes, I guess I would rather be called cute.

As someone with many friends who slay on a daily basis, I know how annoying it can be for them to be seen as sex symbols. Though cute girls get their fair share of heckling, I would rather be called cute than hot by, say, the customs officer.

With this mindset, I have started to embrace the cute.

I have flipped the meaning of cute in my head, associating it with a sweet disposition and childlike wonder rather than innocence and naïveté. As someone with a dry sense of humor, I have embraced the cute factor as my element of surprise – when I tell raunchy jokes, it seems to be a bigger hit because I look like the kind of posh girl who never swears.

Cute girls with a sense of humor, embrace it – it’s quite the party trick.

I have also learned that people expect less of me when I am the cute girl in the group.

Here’s what I mean – have you ever been in a group picture, and all the “hot” girls seem to put a lot more effort into the poses than you do?

I have found that the expectation for me to look hot in a picture is drastically lower than those of my “hot” friends, which takes a lot of pressure off.

Additionally, I don’t feel the need to overanalyze my going-out attire. Just yesterday, I wore a Mickey Mouse crop top out to the bars, and I could not have felt happier or comfier.

Social expectations are lower for me, and I shall wow you all with my cuteness.